A man\u2019s rail career was jeopardized after eating a gummy bear, and SMART Transportation Division cautions members of the risks of a positive drug test after consuming “hemp products,” which are unregulated by the federal government and considered illegal by federal law.
\nVirginia State Legislative Director Ronnie Hobbs says a 28-year-old member experienced a positive Department of Transportation drug test after eating a candy containing the substance cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, which is a chemical derived from the marijuana plant.
\nCBD is legal in products in many states, including Virginia, and reportedly has medicinal properties such as relaxation, pain relief and anxiety reduction in users. Because of these properties and the adoption of medical marijuana laws in multiple states, hemp products containing CBD such as ingestible pills or tablets, candies, \u201cvaping\u201d fluid, topical ointments and oils have become more widely available.
\n\u201cThis is a major issue,\u201d said Hobbs. \u201cThese products can cost members their jobs \u2013 you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re buying.\u201d
\nThe Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a statement in late April warning of the potential risk of using anything containing CBD, such as gummies or hemp oil.
\nSince CBD comes from the marijuana plant, federal law considers it an illegal Schedule I controlled substance, even though it may be for sale and legal to use in individual states. Because the federal government considers it illegal, products containing it are unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and there is no oversight of these products.
\nAs a result, users of hemp products run the risk of taking in the intoxicating component of marijuana called delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, aka THC. Since there is no regulatory oversight, the label may claim the products have no THC content, but there is no guarantee that is the case, the FRA said.
\n\u201cCBD products can, therefore, be definitely a \u2018buyer beware\u2019 concern in terms of product content and quality control,\u201d the FRA stated. \u201cIn addition, CBD products may be innocently or purposefully sold with varying amounts of THC present, which will obviously not be listed as an ingredient.\u201d
\nSo the label might be wrong, saying that the product didn\u2019t contain THC when it actually did, as was the case for the member, Hobbs said.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s creative packaging,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to get a strong message out. Even though the packaging says, \u2018no THC,\u2019 there could be THC in there. There\u2019s no oversight.\u201d
\nDrug tests administered by the DOT target a byproduct called THCCOOH, which appears in a person\u2019s urine after the use of a product containing THC. While a product containing pure CBD would not trigger a positive, a product with a mix of THC along with the CBD taken into the body could trigger a positive test.
\n\u201cIf THC is present in sufficient amounts, that could potentially be the source of a positive federal drug test,\u201d the FRA said.
\nEven if a regulated employee says the source of a positive marijuana test is a hemp product, FRA says the test still will be verified by the Medical Review Officer (MRO) as a positive result.
\nThat\u2019s what happened to the father of two after just one gummy bear, Hobbs said.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A man\u2019s rail career was jeopardized after eating a gummy bear, and SMART Transportation Division cautions members of the risks of a positive drug test after consuming “hemp products,” which are unregulated by the federal government and considered illegal by federal law. Virginia State Legislative Director Ronnie Hobbs says a 28-year-old member experienced a positive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":6,"featured_media":24855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,9,18,25],"tags":[4058,151,175,4059,4060,4061,4062],"member_types":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n