Need Advice About Marijuana Testing For CDL Drivers

John D. I am amazed that you have stuck with this thread and keep responding. I hope you quit, for your sake, and also for the safety of others. You've been given some fantastic advice.

Going by what the op says .. He don't smoke and drive... So I'll give it to him on that...you say you don't smoke while on the road so why not just stop? You go that long without it.

Here's my experience with weed and driving..... my sister smoked for a few decades. She was hit by a drunk driver who pushed her car into another which killed a girl....they did blood and hair testing. They didn't charge her with the death but did charge her as impaired because of the hair test.....blood was clean. That case took a year and 10k to a lawyer..plus loss of license for awhile. 2 yrs later she became schizophrenic....drs said from the drugs. By 47 she was dead....after 3 yrs of trying to kill me...literally. she took a baseball bat to my car..tried to run me off the road and charged me with chasing her with a gun (I was at work at the time but I used 6 wks Vaca time to straighten it all out.) I begged the courts to put her in a hospital but they wouldn't.

There are plenty of people who have good and bad experiences with drugs. Listen to both with an open mind.

Where I am from ALL businesses test initially and most do randoms. Working anywhere will be hard. I'm guessing you are young. ...think long and hard of what you want your life to be. What your life is today is different than in ten years. If you regret college. .you can always go later. ...if you wish you would have had kids. .you can still do it later. If you screw up the drug tests there is no later.

Good luck in all you do.

I'm surprised you don't know the answers to your questions if youve been smoking weed for a long time.

when i was in the union everyone a lot of guys were smoking weed on a daily basis. we got randomed all the time.

synthetic urine DOES WORK. it will not fail even at the lab. you just need to make sure it's the right temp.

on all my randoms i never had anyone watch me. the law states they can only watch IF you messed up and need a retest and it has to be through an Amber colored glass...

i don't know where everyone hides their synthetic... one guy said by his peanuts but... the hernia exam. what if its before you pee.

never figured out how they hid their synthetic but i can name on more than two hands union guys on federal jobs that are on drugs and used synthetic to pass. i know others that failed for temperature...

all of them perfectly capable of driving while stoned. but not drunk and not on crystal.

why don't u just stop till your retired or fight for its legalization and equivalent to testing like alcohol?

Stop til I retire?! You crazy?! Haha :)

Even assuming I beat the odds and live to retirement age-lifes STILL too short to not live how you want to live. And i probably won't reach that age. Mr pessimistic I know but I have my reasons.

then write a petition. marijuana should be treated and tested for like alcohol. it should be legal. you should be allowed to smoke it and wait a certain amount of hours before you can drive again. make sure to include the data from legit research that supports your reasoning. join the United States Marijuana Party. ask them for help on your petition. you'll likely have to get it moved on the schedule first because its classification is up there with heroin. fight for it. the biggest thing i have noticed about stoners is they just talk, but then again the majority of people just talk. please John be the one that does something. the next post you should be posting is sorry i haven't been on here for a while, i was designing a petition. please sign it here...

I'm surprised you don't know the answers to your questions if youve been smoking weed for a long time.

when i was in the union everyone a lot of guys were smoking weed on a daily basis. we got randomed all the time.

synthetic urine DOES WORK. it will not fail even at the lab. you just need to make sure it's the right temp.

on all my randoms i never had anyone watch me. the law states they can only watch IF you messed up and need a retest and it has to be through an Amber colored glass...

i don't know where everyone hides their synthetic... one guy said by his peanuts but... the hernia exam. what if its before you pee.

never figured out how they hid their synthetic but i can name on more than two hands union guys on federal jobs that are on drugs and used synthetic to pass. i know others that failed for temperature...

all of them perfectly capable of driving while stoned. but not drunk and not on crystal.

why don't u just stop till your retired or fight for its legalization and equivalent to testing like alcohol?

Stop til I retire?! You crazy?! Haha :)

Even assuming I beat the odds and live to retirement age-lifes STILL too short to not live how you want to live. And i probably won't reach that age. Mr pessimistic I know but I have my reasons.

then write a petition. marijuana should be treated and tested for like alcohol. it should be legal. you should be allowed to smoke it and wait a certain amount of hours before you can drive again. make sure to include the data from legit research that supports your reasoning. join the United States Marijuana Party. ask them for help on your petition. you'll likely have to get it moved on the schedule first because its classification is up there with heroin. fight for it. the biggest thing i have noticed about stoners is they just talk, but then again the majority of people just talk. please John be the one that does something. the next post you should be posting is sorry i haven't been on here for a while, i was designing a petition. please sign it here...

Honestly mr. Smith the reason no one really does anything about it is because of the huge stigma that goes along with it. I know plenty of ppl that smoke regularly and i also did before i decided to drive for a living. Now granted I don't smoke anymore but i still watch the whole debate and i can see it slowly changing but there is still a huge stigma associated with smoking and the major people that smoke business people and congress and such that can actually affect policy changes won't admit it.

Youre going to have to choose between your weed and your trucking job, but hey, macdonalds is always hiring.

No need to be rude. This kind of ignorance is why there is such an unjustified negative view of marijuana. (Insinuating that because I smoke weed I don't deserve any better than a minimum wage job).

I didn't insinuate anything, please remove the chip from your shoulder. Its called reality. I smoked weed for over 30 years then decided I was done with the low paying jobs that allowed me to keep my weed habit. So I quit and got my CDL. Its been proven that pot effects your judgement and reasoning, hence DUI laws for pot in states like Colorado where weed is legal at the state level. I got no problem with weed or people who smoke it and I would still smoke it myself if I could and legally still pass a **** or hair test. Most higher paying jobs require drug testing and since you have yet to find that mythical 100k a year job where you can smoke all the weed you want, never need to drug test, and live in paradise, I can only assume you are in the same boat as myself. And if you want to be a trucker you will have to quit the weed, probably 90 days in advance of your job applications. That's the reality of it, your agreement or lack thereof doesn't change reality.

Phil

Apparently the OP has already made his decision and that weed is more important so I guess that part is settled.

I do want to address one statement he made though and that's where he talked about paranoia making you think and looking at other options. That same paranoia behind the wheel could get somebody killed. Say you're just coming on shift, you think you're fine, everything you know about yourself says you're ok to drive. Then rolling down the highway at 65 fully loaded, an episode comes on. You think the vehicle next to you is sliding over, you react only to find out it was you who was moving and your correction throws you in the other lane where there happens to be another vehicle?

Back years ago when I burned up half of Jamaica, I was the same way. I never drove but had friends who would and usually we were going slow enough to get passed by someone on an electric shopping cart from Walmart. Still dangerous either way. If you just can't live without it, you'll have to just deal with the fact that you aren't going to be driving a big truck anytime soon.

I skipped most of the pages on this post, but decided I should add my comment anyway.

There are a lot of jobs one can get away with drug use. Including trucking. The problem is, if there's an accident, it is very possible one might find oneself in prison.

I was in trucking school with a guy who had a friend who was involved in an accident and went to prison because they found weed in his system.

Is it worth it?

CDL is what triggers random drug test not dot card. A dot recertification they take a pee to test blood sugar not a UA. At my job we can do rehab if we fail a random but hurts your record and requires at least 6 follow up test in the first year.. Temperature range is tricky but can be controlled with hand warmers which but not here to teach a cheat. As far as observed collection Ive never even had anyone in the bathroom with me. Carrying pee around sucks. I care greatly about my job but had a CDL before this testing started in the early 90s and felt like it infringed on my right so stupidly took a few chances but no longer do so. As far as it will never be legal for a trucker I'm not able to agree without some doubt because not all companies disqualify a driver for using narcotics. The dot requires the doctor examining you to determine your ability based on his judgment after you furnish a note from the prescriber saying it wont adversely affect driving in his opinion. My company requires you to disclose and provide doctors note as well. If pot became legal at fed level then under todays guidelines its possible a trucker could partake. I think they are working to change these drug schedules & how they apply to drivers for that very reason. It's also important to note that they can now test for active component of thc. So they can test to see if your high the same as a breathalyzer for drunkenness. Some including dot will say "its illegal anyway" but since when is it their role to monitor what illegal acts a person commits in his free time? BTW randoms do not use a hair follicle test. A company may request pre employment hair testing but I dont think for a dot random.

My father died young and I probably will too.

Well first of all, don't say that! Don't even think it. You're probably going to live to be 95.

Unfortunately I don't see any way you're going to pull it off even carrying clean urine with you. When they give drug tests they're instructed to keep the door open and watch you to make sure you don't pull any tricks. And of course they do tests on the urine to make sure it's the proper temperature and doesn't show signs that you drank a gallon of water beforehand. They also test for signs of any masking agents. They've been at this game a long time and they've seen a million tricks.

Not to mention, companies know that coming off home time would be the best time to test anyone for drugs or even alcohol. One time I was given a random test just after 8:00 a.m. and they did a breathalyzer test also. I asked the guy, "Do people really fail breathalyzer tests at eight in the morning?" and he said, "You better believe it."

In my opinion you're not going to get away with it for long. I think it's only a matter of time before you get hit with a random at the wrong time. And I'll say this about the anxiety thing - trying to beat the system all the time wears you out after a while. I was always on paper logs and used to cheat on the logs daily. We all did back in the day. And I'll tell ya - that just wears on you. You're always scheming, always worried about getting caught, always trying to make contingency plans in case of random inspections or getting pulled over. It's a lot of stress and it takes some of the fun out of trucking.

Finally one last concern - it seems almost everyone is going to go to hair follicle testing in the coming months and years. The detection is so much better and the prices have come down so much that it's going to become more and more difficult for companies to justify doing urinalysis only. So I think your days are numbered as far as urinalysis goes anyhow.

The fact that many states have now legalized Marijuana and it's proven to have beneficial medicinal effects has taken much of the stigma away from it. But it will never be legal for truckers because of the effects it would have on driving. There are plenty of prescription medications that are perfectly legal for everyday use but will never be approved for trucking.

So it's hard to see much of a future in trucking for anyone who wants to use illegal or unapproved drugs for trucking. I think you're going to have to make a choice one way or the other.

We have a ton of information on drug testing including:

• Hair Follicle vs. Urinalysis: Breakdown By Company - updated list of companies and the type of drug testing they do.
• DOT Alcohol and Drug Policies & Testing - Federal drug testing policies including who is tested, when you're tested, and what they test for.
• CDL Drug & Alcohol Test Methods & Detection Times - includes hair follicle and urinalysis facts along with factors affecting detection times

I don't smoke marijana and never have. Some friends use it, but we respect each other's decision on whether or not to smoke it.

Tomororw, Californians may very well vote to legalize a minimum amount of marijuana. Perhaps one day laws at the federal level will ease as well.

Until then, the rules are the rules. I don't have a CDL but am thinking seriously about getting one. Still researching and thinking on it. If I do spend the time and effort (not to mention the money) to get a CDL, I'm darn sure not going to knowing use something that could get my CDL taken away from me. That would be stupid.

Stay Safe Out There, Colin K.

Holey Ancient Thread Resurrection Batman!

1 - Marijuana is a PROHIBITED SUBSTANCE for someone in a "safety sensitive position".

2 - If you choose to smoke, and test positive - you have chosen to seriously jeopardize (if not end) your trucking career.

3 - The current legal status of weed in the state you happen to be in, has nothing to do with #1 above.

4 - Even if the Feds legalize weed and make it a "non-scheduled substance" - it will probably be a LONG TIME (if ever) that CDL drivers are going to be OK testing positive for it.

So - it still comes down to the choice - do I want to DRIVE A TRACTOR TRAILER or do I want to SMOKE WEED? Regardless of "so-called foolproof ways" of beating a drug screen - with hair testing becoming more and more prevalent, stuffing synthetic urine down your shorts isn't going to cut it for much longer.

BTW - most McDonalds drug test their employees also. Ask MY SON, who used to come by the house to grab some clean urine in a zip lock from me, every time he had a job interview. Good thing for him - he grew up and can pass one on his own now.

And I smoked DAILY from 9 yrs old, until 29 years old - and followed the Grateful Dead around for 25+ years (347 shows - 72 of them sober) - so I'm no stranger to partying - and am not unsympathetic towards current weed heads.

You just can't use weed and work in this industry - PERIOD.

Rick