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Thread: Be very aware !!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5

    Default Be very aware !!

    As NZ has a escalating recreational drug problem the majority of employers are now doing drug testing as part of your conditions of employment, the testing system appears to have a few problems. I am a 55 yr old male who has never touched drugs in his life, i eat healthy foods which is where my problem stems from. I bought a loaf of organic bread containing 8 different nut types, one of these was hemp seeds, myself and my wife ate the loaf over 3 days ending the day before my pre employment drug test, the urine sample was taken and sent away, coming back 4 days later with a positive THC reading of 13ng/ml (lowest recordable reading standard for OZ/NZ is 15ng/ml !) and my job offer was withdrawn. Have now gone back to medical centre who carried out the medical and they are as annoyed as me because the full tests were'nt carried out for them as required. They have recalled the sample for further testing in ChCh but have told me that they have only just been informed that Hemp products can cause problems on testing.
    So my point, to whoever is going for a pre emplyment medical, is to be very very careful about what you eat and take, ie painkillers etc before you have your medical because simple things will come and bite you in the bum when you dont want it to. We are awaiting the results of the second test before we contact a solicitor to get some investigation carried out, as we have spent some $20,000 in NZ already and i want my name cleared.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,824

    Default

    Heck, that's tough. Keep us updated, please.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Ōtepoti, Aotearoa
    Posts
    2,736

    Default

    Bugger, thinking of that! Wonder if hemp milk, which my wife us drinking regularly, has the same effect?

    On a positive note I think you would nit like working fir an employer who shows no sympathy here; better to find out than later.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    San Francisco to Auckland
    Posts
    626

    Default

    That stinks. I will keep my fingers crossed for you. Hang in there!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    New Zealand (Cockle Bay- Auck)
    Posts
    252

    Default

    it is known that certain foods can cause 'not negative' on site urine drug tests. (it should never be referred to as 'positive' from this) however the sample should immediately be sent to and ESR lab, which can differentiate the causes, which would give you the all clear.
    I perform these on site urine tests at our medical centre, and we are taught that some over the counter medication and certain foods (including seedy bread!!) can cause non negative resuts (some people even process cheese and red wine in a different way in their bodies that can also give non negative results!
    so it seems somebody messed up, and hopefully when you get your results your employer will be emapathetic!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mattandjax View Post
    it is known that certain foods can cause 'not negative' on site urine drug tests. (it should never be referred to as 'positive' from this) however the sample should immediately be sent to and ESR lab, which can differentiate the causes, which would give you the all clear.
    I perform these on site urine tests at our medical centre, and we are taught that some over the counter medication and certain foods (including seedy bread!!) can cause non negative resuts (some people even process cheese and red wine in a different way in their bodies that can also give non negative results!
    so it seems somebody messed up, and hopefully when you get your results your employer will be emapathetic!
    Have just received my results from the second test and they came back with no trace, Carboxy-THC, limit of detection 1ug/l, not detected. This second controlled test was carried out in CHL labs in ChCh by the section head of toxicolgy as he was astounded that they gave a positive reading at 13ng/ml, where the standard, if the test is carried out properly is 15ng/ml. He took one look at me and said you don't exactly fit the profile of a cannibis user! and he was right. So now i have no job and feel very aggrieved at the incompetence of the ESR lab in wellington.
    Im now working out what to do next and who to turn to for advice, as i would hate for someone else to go through the stress my wife and myself have been through, knowing full well we have never even touched an illegal drug in our lives let alone used one.
    Im not sure my potential employer will have any empathy for me as they could of asked me if i was prepared to have the second test done but didn't, it was only the staff at TriEx H and S that helped me through the maze, otherwise i would still be wondering what went wrong.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    37,824

    Default

    I think in fairness to yourself, you could contact them and give them chapter and verse from the medical centre and the lab about what you have now found out. That should at the very least clear your name with them, and there might be a certain amount of guilt that somebody overreacted too quickly without giving you a chance to comment, and a chance of better things - ?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Auckland (from Leeds UK)
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    389

    Default

    I am stay away from the happy bread man!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Whangaparaoa
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    472

    Default

    I don't know why you got a negative on your test, but, it wasn't because of the hemp seed. My father works for an insurance company and overseas drug testing, my sister-in-law works for food standards in NZ and both agree agricultural hemp, a cousin of marijuana, for food consumption are tested at .00% THC.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Was Cheshire Nov 2005 Welly
    Posts
    587

    Default

    arandjay, that really sucks!!,,,

    The unqualified administration and misunderstood results are a real issue. being related to someone who works for an insurance company now seems to be enough to qualify them to imply your a raving pot head!

    the apple never falls far from the tree is an exspression I'm not fond of and try not to believe :-)

    bob

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