I may fail a drug test. How do I address it?
May 12, 2020 11:12 PM   Subscribe

I live in a state with legal medical marijuana, and I have used it routinely for the past year for chronic pain. I am also in final interviews for a director level position in a health care organization. I am a highly favored candidate for this position, and because of reasons, it turns out there will be a urinalysis. I have stopped use for a little bit, but is is at least possible that I will fail the test. I am not interested in trying to spoof it; if I fail, I fail. I know that if I were in the hiring position here, I would certainly be open to conversation about this and not let it sink a promising investment. I am preparing to advocate for myself if this happens. My plan will be to say that use in my state is legal, and that my partner and I have used it only lightly at night to help with our yoga and pain, which is true. As soon as I found out there would be a drug test for this position, I stopped use, which is also true. What else would you say in my position? I appreciate the help and guidance.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (19 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I might disclose this proactively, especially if you have used it with a prescription. As a similar example, folks who take ADHD meds might test positive for amphetamines so they might disclose this in advance to the testing company.

Also, are you sure that this a pass-fail test? They might be fine with marijuana unless they’ve told you otherwise?
posted by bluedaisy at 11:36 PM on May 12, 2020 [9 favorites]


I would also consider disclosing proactively if you have a prescription for this and I agree that you might have the opportunity to do so before taking the test. No need to go into particular detail except to say that you had a prescription from your doctor to manage a medical condition, but that you are no longer making use of it.

If you are allowed to legally use it without a prescription, then maybe you can disclose that as well but obviously without the details about doctors etc.

I wouldn't mention the yoga. It's silly, but I think that could make you sound kind of "crunchy" and bring up doubts about whether the marijuana is really for medical use.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 3:11 AM on May 13, 2020 [29 favorites]


Are you willing to quit taking it if hired? I'm not saying you should, but if you were, you could say that. On the other hand, if this helps with a pain condition, it seems like they should maybe accommodate that. I wouldn't mention yoga unless the yoga is also a critical part of dealing with a medical condition, and still I'd just talk about the condition.
posted by slidell at 3:14 AM on May 13, 2020 [3 favorites]


Unless you know for sure that it will not be detected in the test and you are prepared to stop using it indefinitely, I would treat it as legitimate medication you have been prescribed, that there analysis might misinterpret and declare it accordingly.

Whether or not they give you the job is entirely on them. But I don't think there's a scenario where you have a test that's positive for cannabis and the outcome is worse because you told them in advance you have a prescription for marijuana. But I would frame it entirely medically - as if you were an athlete prescribed salbutamol because you have asthma.
posted by plonkee at 5:49 AM on May 13, 2020 [1 favorite]


I wouldn’t mention the yoga or your partner. Not that there’s anything wrong with what you’re doing, but keep it to simple facts about yourself only. You have taken it for medical reasons (no detail, at most a mention of chronic pain) (with a prescription, if true) but discontinued use. It is legal where you live. You are willing to look into other options and discontinue use if required (if true, otherwise leave this part out)

If you’re not willing to permanently discontinue use, discretely find out their testing policy (usually in the handbook, if you can get your hands on that) and if you would be subject to testing once hired. Also check state laws on if you can be randomly tested without a clear policy stating that you can. If there is little to no chance of ever being tested once working, there is no reason they need to know you will use it again.
posted by sillysally at 5:49 AM on May 13, 2020 [22 favorites]


Stopping for "a little bit" is not sufficient to clear this out of your body. It can take weeks if not months. So, I'm nthing that you should not wait to fail the test before explaining it. Tell them in advance, "It's likely I'm going to fail that test because I have used medically-prescribed cannibis for chronic pain. This has not effected my job performance in my previous position and should not affect my performance here, but if it is a problem I will stop."

You are right that the employer is likely to be accommodating, but less so if you don't pre-disclose.
posted by beagle at 5:53 AM on May 13, 2020 [8 favorites]


Check your state law. There are laws in several states that provide protection for discrimination based on medical marijuana use.
posted by condour75 at 5:56 AM on May 13, 2020 [1 favorite]


Nth that if you pre-disclose, you should only say you may fail because you take a prescribed dose for pain. Don't mention yoga or your partner. I used to work in hiring, and talking about using weed with a partner and yoga just brings a very unprofessional image to mind. Don't go there.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:48 AM on May 13, 2020 [25 favorites]


If you're sure they want to hire you, and you're pretty sure you'll fail the test.. Consider disclsoing before the test to a sympathetic hiring manager, in hopes they will help you out and postpone the test for a few weeks until you know you will pass it. Once there's a piece of paper documenting a failed drug test your application will get more complicated. It may be the company doesn't care at all about how you test but are required to give the test in order to qualify for federal grants or something stupid like that. They may want you to pass as much as you do.
posted by Nelson at 6:53 AM on May 13, 2020 [5 favorites]


I wouldn't use the word "fail" when bringing this up proactively. I would say something like:

I was prescribed marijuana by my doctor for pain management. I am no longer taking this medication but it may come up in my drug test. I can provide a note from my doctor if needed.
posted by unreasonable at 7:01 AM on May 13, 2020 [33 favorites]


Most places will make you an offer contingent on a clean drug test - e.g. they will make the offer, you negotiate and accept, and then you get the formal background check and drug screening. These steps may take some time. Use that time to get some test strips from Amazon because once enough time has elapsed and you're testing clean it won't matter.

I'm seeing a lot of advice for what to do if your doctor will give you a note about you using it medically, but I don't see anything in your question that implies that. In case it's more true that you're just using marijuana recreationally (for whatever reason!) and legally, you need to take a different strategy. It doesn't matter why you use marijuana if it's legal in your state and you don't owe a potential employer an explanation. But just like if you had a bad reference, you need to be upfront with that after you accept the offer and have a good communication plan.

I'd say something like, "Prior to my entering the candidate pool for this position, I used marijuana, which is legal in our state. As soon as I applied for this job and saw that you had a drug-free workplace, I stopped. It's possible that a drug screening may detect traces of marijuana from this prior use. How can we navigate this since I currently am and will be drug free on the job?"
posted by juniperesque at 7:32 AM on May 13, 2020 [2 favorites]


If it's a prescription you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
posted by Amy93 at 7:33 AM on May 13, 2020


Ancedata: A friend failed a drug test because of weed about 10 years ago in Austin TX. She actually had a bit of a behavioral addition and was super scared of failing because a family connection had gotten her the position and she had already been there a few weeks. Turns out the company just referred her for some counseling about it, she actually reduced her intake and benefited form the counseling. I'm not sure if she quit/ had to pass a future drug test, but consider that even "failing" might not be the end of world.
posted by raccoon409 at 8:08 AM on May 13, 2020


Is the health care organization a national organization? If it is a national organization it may not matter if cannabis is legal in your state, because it is still a Class whatever drug nationally. Also, if a company has a zero tolerance policy about drug use they can and will fire workers (or not hire them in the first place) eventhough cannabis is legal in the state; it also does not matter if you have a prescription or not. Not fair, but many places still consider cannabis use to be criminal. Try to put off the test until you pee clean.
posted by BooneTheCowboyToy at 8:29 AM on May 13, 2020 [4 favorites]


Most places will make you an offer contingent on a clean drug test - e.g. they will make the offer, you negotiate and accept, and then you get the formal background check and drug screening.

If this is the case, I would also wait until all contingencies have been satisfied (drug screen, background check, etc). I would then ask the offering company to regenerate and resend the offer letter with all of the contingency sentences removed. Do not give notice to your existing employer until you have that letter in your possession.

This gives you a much stronger position if the company decides to withdraw the offer for some reason out of your control. That should give you some reassurance that once you're past the medical cannabis hurdle you are over it for good and nobody can hit you with the test results later.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:37 AM on May 13, 2020 [2 favorites]


If the organization gets federal funding, the testing may be required and likely include pot. Have a friend call from a different phone and ask HR what is included in the test. If pot is included, talk to whoever is doing the hiring and explain that you use pot legally for pain and see if the test can be delayed. I don't know the federal regulations now, but they are likely severe. The hiring person may want to help you avoid this hassle. And do the test strips; maybe it can all be avoided.
posted by theora55 at 8:56 AM on May 13, 2020 [2 favorites]


There are all sorts of reasons why they may be testing you. If it is for a job with the federal government or gets federal money, no matter what your state's laws are, it is still not legal federally. What BooneTheCowboy said.

I would first take a test on your own. See if you need to come up with a disclosure plan. It may not be necessary. It may all be mental masturbation. If your self test is positive, delay the actual test for a week or two. Test yourself again. When you are clean, take their test.

Anecdotally, when I worked for a large brokerage firm, they had a zero tolerance policy. But that policy started when you worked there not before. I hired an assistant who failed the test not once, not twice but three times before she passed. They kept giving her the test until she passed. I think if she had failed a fourth time that may have been it, but who knows.

I would not pre-disclose unless it was matter of factly on a form that asks if you have any prescriptions.
posted by AugustWest at 9:09 AM on May 13, 2020 [1 favorite]


I've written about this before, but these tests are garbage (I develop similar tests, and have written critically about this and other tests in the literature). There's no need for you to disclose anything to your potential employer. If results come back that they ask you about, contest the results--ask for a retest or even start a discussion about why they've chosen the testing firm, whether they've vetted the test and testing firm's GLP status, etc. At the very least, that buys you time to clear your system. At best, this shows you're up to speed on issues that are important and valuable to a leader in a healthcare organization.

I'm happy to chat more via memail.

(Edited to add: there's also a pretty good chance that, even if your results come back positive for marijuana, your company won't even acknowledge it. I, personally, have had this discussion with a fair number of HR specialists and CEOs, and their internal messaging is that, more or less, they expect the specter of a test to scare away most people they'd be concerned about hiring).
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 9:11 AM on May 13, 2020 [17 favorites]


I worked at a big health org when medical marijuana was legalized in my state and this issue came up. A job candidate tested positive and the issue got tossed up to the highest level of hr because the org's official policy had not been updated to reflect the change in legality for the state. The state in question required medical marijuana cards so ultimately the candidate was asked to provide said card as documentation. She got the job.
posted by WeekendJen at 12:48 PM on May 13, 2020


« Older Explain it Like I'm 5: Therapy   |   Ethics around different work policies for... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.