Hair Drug Test for Job

Hi fellow Monkeys. I was recruited by a pretty large company to be an associate. I went through the multiple rounds of interviews and was finally offered the job. Great! All is well. They need to do the background check and drug test.. standard..no problem. I am signed up to take the test Friday. Well, as it turns out, the test is not your standard piss test but a hair follicle test. Now I am freaking out. I dont do drugs, but I have smoked marijuana about 5 times in my short time on this planet years ago.

Exactly 90 days ago I was in Colorado and decided to partake in the legal edibles there. At this time I was not looking for a job and my current job could care less if you partake in weed. I only had about 20 mg of edibles, but I am extremely worried that this will show up on my test Friday. The last time I smoked weed was probably 5 years ago. My hair is about 1.5 inches long and I am told I will need 1.5 inches of hair on my head for the test.

Do any of you have any experience with this test? How sensitive is it to 20 mg of edibles 90 days ago? I have already given my current company notice...

How Sensitive is Hair Follicle Drug Testing?

Most of our users shared that hair follicle drug testing only tests for the past 90 days at maximum so the OP should be fine in this instance.

The website, Ipassedmydrugtest.com shares details about the process below.

A standard hair follicle screen covers a period of approximately 90 days, but is susceptible to time variation depending on the growth rate of your hair. The hair sample is cut as close to the scalp as possible and the most recent 3.9cm (or 1.5 inches) are tested. It is possible to go back even further than 90 days since the time period is limited only by the length of the hair sample, but is standardized to a 90 day history.

The test looks for Co***ne, Marijuana, Opiates, Meth, and Phencyclidine (PCP).

It is also important to note that if your hair is too short on your head, they can take body hair. According to ipassedmydrugtest:

It is challenging to precisely represent the time period of a standard screen with body hair so substances may be detected in body hair for up to 1 year after the substance left the blood stream.

Follicle Hair Drug Test Timeline - Will I Pass?

Since the edible was consumed 90 days ago, our users think that the OP should be fine for the hair drug test.

prof_harold_hill:
If you truly only did it once, and it was only 20g, you are totally fine. Marijuana is one of the harder drugs to test for and it tends to only show up in your hair if there was repeated, chronic use (2x/week is an estimate I've heard).

Source: I smoked a lot of weed my sophomore year, but quit before becoming a junior. I was worried, so I went to my counselor at my college, and got this talk from her.

EazyMuthaf.ckinE:
One edible exactly 90 days ago for a non-smoker you should be completely fine. I had a hair test for a big oil company, only stopped toking 2 or 3 months before hand (was an everyday guy). Was freaking out because I didn't know if it had been 60 or 90 days since my last time (90 is the limit for hair test), got my hair cut shorter. Went in to take the test, they said hair was too short and shaved my leg. Passed. In the <1% chance that you do fail hopefully you can get on the phone with someone in HR and explain your situation (only did it once, legally). Relax, you should be good brother

What If I Fail My Hair Follicle Testing?

If for some reason you fail the test, our users suggest simply calling someone in HR and explaining that it was a one-time thing that you did in a state where it is legal. Emphasize that this is not a habit of yours and that it would in no way effect your position working at the firm if you were fortunate enough to keep working there.

Read More About Drug Testing on WSO

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It's been years since I've been required to do a drug test for a job. My response won't be as valuable as others, considering I am not a drug user, but your best option is to go through with it and hope for the best (or at least hope that you have the opportunity to explain yourself if it fails). Going back and saying "Just kidding!" to your current employer will look quite lame.

 

If you truly only did it once, and it was only 20g, you are totally fine. Marijuana is one of the harder drugs to test for and it tends to only show up in your hair if there was repeated, chronic use (2x/week is an estimate I've heard).

Source: I smoked a lot of weed my sophomore year, but quit before becoming a junior. I was worried, so I went to my counselor at my college, and got this talk from her.

 
<a href=http://www.homehealthtesting.com/ultimate-hair-drug-test-faq.html rel=nofollow>http://www.homehealthtesting.com/ultimate-hair-drug-test-faq.html</a>:
A half inch of hair represents about a 30 day drug history...

It takes about 5-7 days for the hair affected by the drug use to grow out above the scalp.

Sounds like you're on the outer limits. Get a haircut removing a quarter of an inch to feel a little safer.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

One edible exactly 90 days ago for a non-smoker you should be completely fine. I had a hair test for a big oil company, only stopped toking 2 or 3 months before hand (was an everyday guy). Was freaking out because I didn't know if it had been 60 or 90 days since my last time (90 is the limit for hair test), got my hair cut shorter. Went in to take the test, they said hair was too short and shaved my leg. Passed. In the

 

You should be fine. From what I know about hair follicle tests, they don't go back further than 90 days. That coupled with the fact that you hardly smoked to begin with should put you in a position to pass. Good luck.

 

I worked at an oil company which surprised me with the same shit, hair test. So after doing some digging I found piss is much better at detecting ANY marijuana, but it's a shorter time period covered, less than 30 days. Hair is great for detecting habitual users over a longer period (3 month time period), as in, people who use the stuff frequently. There is a "water down" effect with hair drug tests, occasional users are less likely to be picked up. I would assume you're fine, I was working with a similar time frame you mentioned but this is anecdotal. (You should redo any searches if you're that worried, this was 3 years ago and I know at the time they had a shampoo which "cleans" the hair of it, purportedly. )

Also, because everyone is asking about "what if you're bald?" they will pull other hair on your body, typically arm-pit. It needs to be over 1.5 inches long if I remember correctly, so where ever that hair length is. I asked my drug tester, as I was curious, and he said they've pulled pubes because some guy thought he was clever to shave his head and arm pits.

 

I got drug tested for my current job at an industrial F500 company. I had no concerns about passing the test, but it was still a huge headache. The testers were 2 pretty dumb older ladies who weren't sure if my hair was long enough (I have average length mens hair) so they wanted to try leg hair. They ended up sending in a combo of hair from my head and leg hair, which worked fine.

They did say if that didn't work I was going to have to go to another location with a male tester for pubic hair, so that is the fall back.

The biggest takeaway here that no one has pointed out is to NEVER give notice until everything is wrapped up nicely at your future employer.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 

Go with it, and that's you can do. Quit worrying about stuff you can't control at this point.

You should be fine though, since you are not a consistent user. Generally drug tests are designed to weed out users who are recreational about it.

 
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