I have to take a drug test.

[iamnobody]

I never thought I'd be in this situation, but now I am. I was notified Friday that at some point next week I will have to get a Department of Transportation physical in order to operate a vehicle that is over a certain weight. Part of that physical means taking and passing a drug test.

Part of me wants to beat this test and part of me wants to be up front about how much of an invasion of my privacy this is.

I did not have to take a pre-employment drug test where I work now, but I abstained for a month beforehand just so I would piss clean naturally! I was never given any documentation that the company performs random screens (which they don't), or that a positive test result was grounds for dismissal.

I have worked at my current job for just over a year, received overwhelming positive reviews from my coworkers and clients alike. I have a Bachelors degree in MIS and have continuously studied for and passed IT certification exams in the past year on my own time (*gasp*, while smoking pot, even!).

However, if I fail this drug test, I now face the possibility of being laid off for a while until I can piss clean, or simply being fired. And with things the way they are now, I cannot afford that. I have a car payment, mortgage payment, credit card bills, etc.

I don't feel like this is fair, at all. I have done nothing to warrant a drug test and am otherwise a model employee and law abiding citizen. What I do with my free time is my business and my business alone, but now it's being made their business. What absolutely kills me is that this drug test is not even for them to find out if I am doing drugs, it is simply because you have to get the physical to operate a truck that is over a certain weight. Which most likely I will not even be doing, because that's not my fucking job!

Needless to say, without doing something I will fail the test. I am a moderate cannabis user, smoking a joint or so a day after work and on weekends. The last time I smoked was Thursday night. Obviously I don't plan on smoking anytime soon, either.

I have tried thinking of some legitimate excuse, but I feel like me questioning it would send up a red flag. I've even thought about taking off work next week due to illness, but even when I came back the following week I would still be pissing dirty without dilution.

I have researched this forum extensively and plan on trying to beat the test with dilution. I have searched online and even found the official DoT testing policies, what levels they test for, how they confirm tests, what constitutes a diluted sample, etc. So fortunately, I know what ranges I have to fall within, I am just nervous as hell about doing it.

What if it comes back diluted and they retest me that day?

I feel like I am literally going to have to keep up the whole dilution process every single day until I could naturally piss clean, which I estimate to be around 3 weeks, based on prior experience, the amount I smoke, my body, etc.

I have never been in this position before. I have only ever had to take pre-employment screens and at the time, I was clean.

Anyway, I figured I would start this post, figuring maybe someone else has been in the same position before. I have never, ever felt like such a victim before.

If anyone can offer me discussion, advice, comfort, anything...it would be very much appreciated.

For those of you that can, blaze on. :stoned:

iamnobody Reviewed by iamnobody on 11-22-2008. I have to take a drug test. I never thought I'd be in this situation, but now I am. I was notified Friday that at some point next week I will have to get a Department of Transportation physical in order to operate a vehicle that is over a certain weight. Part of that physical means taking and passing a drug test. Part of me wants to beat this test and part of me wants to be up front about how much of an invasion of my privacy this is. I did not have to take a pre-employment drug test where I work now, but I Rating: 5

[iamnobody]

For those that are curious, here is the Department of Transportation stuff I was referring to.

U.S. Department of Transportation/ Office of the Secretary of Transportation/ Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance

The top link, "49 CFR Part 40", is available as a PDF or Word document, and has all of the specific information listed. Maybe it could help someone else, too.

[iamnobody]

I have a few specific questions, if someone wouldn't mind answering them.

All of the following information is in the DoT document I linked to earlier. I am going under the assumption that I will be tested under these procedures and guidelines.

Apparently the cutoff limit for the initial cannabis test is 50 ng/mL, while the confirmation test is 15 ng/mL.

If the first test comes back negative, would they likely do the confirmation test? It seems that the confirmation test, with it's significantly lower cutoff point, would be used to weed out false positives. If not, why wouldn't they just lower the initial test to 15 ng/mL?


Also...

(a) As a laboratory you must consider the primary specimen to be dilute when:
(1) The creatinine concentration is greater than or equal to 2mg/dL but less than 20 mg/dL, and
(2) The specific gravity is greater than 1.0010 but less than 1.0030 on a single aliquot.

My question regarding those two is, do they test for significantly high levels of each (if possible), or are they only testing for low levels (dilution). In other words, do I have to get these levels "just right", or can I begin creatine loading now, then use gatorade and rolaids to increase the specific gravity enough to beat this part of the test?

According to the document, there are only 4 possible outcomes.

Negative (normal levels, no drugs)
Negative-dilute (no drugs, but creatine and specific gravity below normal)
Positive (drugs)
Positive-dilute (drugs, creatine and specific gravity below bormal)


None of which say anything about levels above normal, so I was just wondering.

Hopefully someone comments on this...if not, I really hope someone finds this information useful. I'll continue to post with questions, issues and of course the results.

[gummybear402]

Hey, It depends on where you go to test. I just had my first pre employment drug test and had to go to lab corp. I have heard mixed things about this place, but i have also hear that they do the initial at 50ng/ and then if that comes positive they test for 15 n/g. I was also wondering that if you test above on any of the drug screens do they just move foward with the lower ng testing for each drug or jsut the one detected in the initial screen. Well anyway, I had been 13 days without smoking and had passed a home test(in ghood shape/low body fat) my boyfriend told me all the detox products are scams as he went to boarding school and was tested every week for everything and failed even after using all of those 80 dollar rip off drinks. ANwya, so i jsut drank a gatorade/ and one redbull some extra water, nothing special and went in to pee(mid-stream of course). SO i wasnt worried, i wasnt trying to dilute really and my dumbass smoked a little(well LARGE) victory bowl of the chron later that night only to get a phone call the next morning saying my sample had been too dilluted and i needed to retest the next day.I cannot be emplloyed if they recieve two dillute samples, so i passed another home test even after my victory bowl even though the second line was so so faint. I think i am totoally fucked and that on monday i am gonna get a lecture from this place I really really wanted to work. But, i stand a chance if its just 50ng cut off... if not im screwed and really kicking myself for smoking before i knew the results were sure. This is going tobe a long long ass weekend!:joint1:

[iamnobody]

I don't think it will depend where I go, as Department of Transportation regulations differ from other regulations, I would imagine. For DoT testing, I would assume the same rules and regulations have to be followed.

It makes sense that if you pass the initial test, they most likely would not do any further testing, because everyone who really was clean would be subjected to this extra test, which costs extra money.

It seems like the confirmation test would be for failure confirmation, but I don't know that for sure.

Does anyone know what ratio you can realistically dilute to? I mean is it just as feasible to beat a 15 ng/mL cutoff as it is to beat a 50 ng/mL cutoff, if you continue to dilute?

I'm really hoping someone knowledgeable comments on this.

[Burnt Toast]

If the first test comes back negative, would they likely do the confirmation test?

Nope. With DOT testing, a negative for all 5 panels on the initial screen means the testing is over as a "pass". Confirmation tests are only performed on any of the 5 panels that tested positive on the initial screen.

Also...

(a) As a laboratory you must consider the primary specimen to be dilute when:
(1) The creatinine concentration is greater than or equal to 2mg/dL but less than 20 mg/dL, and
(2) The specific gravity is greater than 1.0010 but less than 1.0030 on a single aliquot.

My question regarding those two is, do they test for significantly high levels of each (if possible), or are they only testing for low levels (dilution).

Labs look for low creatinine and SG levels in order to determine a "diluted" specimen. There are no upper limits established for creatinine. As long as the creatinine level is over 20 mg/dL, its satisfactory.

A urine sample is ruled "substituted" (aka "not consistent with human urine") when the creatinine level is less than 2 mg/dL, while the specific gravity is less than, or equal to 1.0010; or greater than 1.0200

[iamnobody]

That's what I gathered, I was just looking for some confirmation.

I picked up a thing of creatine power this evening and started taking it. I have no idea how much I should be taking, though. The recommended dosage is 1 teaspoon before workouts.

Would doubling the dosage 3 times a day be sufficient?

Also, are there any estimated amounts of sports drinks and rolaids that will cause a specific gravity test to come in above the acceptable level, or is that somewhat difficult to do?

I don't want to get a substituted result by having the specific gravity above the limit...but I haven't seen any posts from people failing from that, either.

[KNOTME66]

That's what I gathered, I was just looking for some confirmation.

I picked up a thing of creatine power this evening and started taking it. I have no idea how much I should be taking, though. The recommended dosage is 1 teaspoon before workouts.

Would doubling the dosage 3 times a day be sufficient?

Also, are there any estimated amounts of sports drinks and rolaids that will cause a specific gravity test to come in above the acceptable level, or is that somewhat difficult to do?

I don't want to get a substituted result by having the specific gravity above the limit...but I haven't seen any posts from people failing from that, either.

First thing....the creatine....I think I recall the suggestion of taking twice the amount given for loading process. If you start to get the poops, cut back on creatine. Otherwise, that should be fine.

It's hard to say how much rolaids/gatorade will increase SG. Just make sure you use a sports drink for the dilution and eat rolaids about every hour. Don't forget to drink some salty water/gatorade to increase your PH levels. The easiest way for me to down salt is mixing in a shot glass with warm water and just chugging it, follow by a drink of something better.

[iamnobody]

I'm not really worried about enough, it's the too much thing that bothers me since anything over 1.0030 tests as a substituted specimen.

I don't want to go overboard.

[KNOTME66]

As long as you stick to the directions in the dilution sticky, you should do fine. I haven't heard of anyone following the directions and failing the test for SG being too high.