Hair Follicle Test: Marijuana and Testing Your Hair When You’ve Smoked Weed
We always have something that we crave in our lives. Whether it is food or people, we tend to seek them out and try to get them. With people, it’s all about forming relationships and building them as a part of ourselves. However, there is one thing that we crave that is usually good for us: excitement. The adrenaline rush of danger and wonder is actually something that we try to find in our everyday lives. In such a monotonous experience, we always look for a difference or a change in scenery. It can also be a new experience and we want to know more about it.
People & Drug Use
One of the few ways people try to find that excitement is through taking drugs. Yes, there are a lot of rules and regulations against its use, but still it rages on. Many people use this as a way to escape reality and their own sadness. Most of these drugs make you feel very happy even in just a short amount of time. They are also quite addicting, which is why a lot of them also end up using more. It is known as an epidemic in some countries, and they usually try to ban these out. It can be proven successful, but in some places may not even reach their targets.
There are so many people who turn to this for the first time because of peer pressure or simply out of curiosity. This is understandable because it can be quite titillating. It is something you have always heard before but you never really dared to use. Once it’s there right in front of you, it can be really tempting to try. After all, there is nothing wrong with a one-time use of a drug like smoking a little weed. You think that it can just be washed out of your system through excretion. There would be no traces of your drug use by tomorrow and everything would be fine.
However, that may not be the case in real life.
Companies & Drug Use
Most companies these days have strict regulations about drug use. They would usually prohibit the use of drugs, especially in the workplace. Once an employee is found using drugs in the premises, usually they would be terminated immediately. Sometimes, the police may also be involved. It can also be a record against the person which would affect their future employment. It can be really detrimental for those looking for a career, but all hope is not lost. There are still ways to look for a job even with a bad record. Read more about this here: https://careertrend.com/how-5497958-job-bad-background-check.html.
However, for outside use the procedures can be different. Most employers would actually prohibit their employees to use any drugs even outside working hours. This is due to the belief that people who use drugs would eventually bring it in the workplace. This would usually concern dangerous drugs like cocaine and meth among others. These would really impair work performance and can affect the daily lives of many people. What about marijuana, though?
Marijuana is considered as one of the most discussed topics in the world these days. Many people would argue that this is still a dangerous drug. However, there are many others who would actually support its use. For one, before it was even considered dangerous drug marijuana is actually used as medicine. Some cultures would even use it for rituals because of its hallucinogenic properties. There are evidences of its addictive properties, but some would disagree with this notion.
What You Need To Know About Drug Testing
Even though there are certain countries like Canada and some parts of the United States have legalized marijuana use, some places still do. See the list of countries which legalized marijuana here. Companies and organizations would still continue their laws against its use. If you belong in such a company you might be subjected to a random drug test. It is the prerogative of every company to have a drug free workplace and that includes marijuana. So if had some fun with weed the night before a drug test, then you might have really bad luck.
There are three different kinds of tests that are usually used for drug detection. Blood, urine and hair follicles are collected for each test. Each of these three have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Blood and urine is the most commonly used because of how easy it is to administer. However, these two tests can be easily faked.
Hair follicle testing is more commonly used these days because it is not easy to manipulate. Hair follicles would actually store more information about your drug use than any other sample from your body. Most drugs would actually take up to 3 months before it will be outgrown by your hair follicles. However, for marijuana it can take up to 5 months before it will be removed from your hair.
There are certain ways you can test your own hair before you undergo such tests. Always keep in mind the last time that you used marijuana. If it has only been yesterday, then you might be safe from the drug test. It needs to be about a week before the drug can reach your hair follicles. That is one this test’s disadvantages, so urine and blood test is more commonly used for recent drug use. If it has already been a week or more, then the hair test might be your detriment.
If you think about cutting your hair, you may want to rethink again as this would be more problematic for you. Most testing centers would actually decline someone who had recently cut their hair. It would also be a visual indication that you are trying to tamper with the test results. This would also be a very suspicious action for your employer. After all, who wants to go bald randomly? Otherwise, they would collect samples from your body hair, which would actually store up to a year’s worth of drug use. They can collect from your chest, face and even armpits. Always be alert whenever there is a drug test to be conducted in your office. You might never know when it’s going to happen.