bigdaddy0415

Okay... I blew it.

Stopped smoking for 4 months in an attempt to get hired at a company that I know for a fact does hair follicle testing. I was told several times, because of the economy, there would be an indefinite hiring freeze. So I broke down and lit up a few days ago, Smoked like 3 good hits from a regular sized bowl. Wouldn't you know it, the company called me the next day and wanted to do a pre-screening in 7 days! I really wan't this job.

Okay, the facts:

Smoked one time in the last 4 months, once.... really.

There will be 8 days between the time I smoked and the time of the test.

I have read for hours on the forums. If I have missed something I apologize.There has been some talk of minimum amounts of THC that will trigger a positive result, But others that say any amount found and I'll be screwed. Also the time-frame, a little over a week from comfortably numb to the test. Is the contaminated hair even grown out of the scalp enough for me to worry about at this point? It seems from what I've read this is right around the potential danger zone.

What is the final word here? I am running out of time to order the proper products online if necessary. Thank you all for this site, and all the helpful info. I'm just still not quite confident as what to do under my circumstances, If anything.

bigdaddy0415

Thanks for that.

So the general consensus is (if i can call two responses a census) that I need to do some form of treatment for a hair follicle test, even after smoking just once in 4 months?

wiuenright

I am not saying you have too, but if you really want the job whats the hurt in trying to take even more steps, even if they may/may not work. I should pass but I still am going to just try some treatment, just as a precaution.

bigdaddy0415

No other responses?
I may seem like I haven't done my research, but I have. I have searched the forums.I can find nothing conclusive about this specific problem. Jerry G responded to one poster by saying "you should be fine" but I'm not sure if that was before they changed they changed the cut-off standards for positive results. I heard that they recently changed the cut-off levels for THC and that they are much lower now. Is that true? What is the average concentration found in a hair sample from one use in 3 months?

Sec

No, I do not think you need to do anything. If you only used once in the past 4 months, you should be perfectly fine for your hair test.

__________________
Guidelines.
Search
http://www.marijuana.com/drug-test/index

bigdaddy0415

Thank you Sec. You just provided me 16 hours or so of restful sleep for the next 2 days.Your knowledge is most appreciated. Just so you know, I did read the FAQ that you referred me to before I asked the question. It said for the hair test.

"The liquid is run through the GC/MS machine, and can detect as little as 1 ng/mL. Psychemedics Corporation has a home collection kit for $69. This home test kit is available if you want to test yourself before applying for a job. Also, parents can test their children."

But I figured that the accuracy of the test and actual cutoff levels for a positive were two different things. Also, I didn't know what this meant in laymans terms as to how many times in a 4 month period you could smoke.

Then In the "(positive) defined" section it states.

"50 nanograms of THC metabolites per milliliter defines a "presumptive positive" by most laboratories and instant tests. This value was originally 20 ng/mL, but too many false positives resulted. So the level was raised to 100 ng/mL to reduce false positives. As of January 1995, the threshold was lowered back down to 50 ng/mL because drinking excessive water could easily bring the level of metabolites in the urine below 100 ng/mL. Some employers may use a lower cutoff, but that is rare. If a specimen screens non-negative for THC (anything other than negative or fails an integrity test), the specimen is then sent through a Gas Chromatograph / Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS) for the specific metabolite tripping the immunoassay screening. This level is set at 15 ng/mL for that one specific metabolite."

Obviously they are talking about a urine test here, I would ASSUME that the cutoff levels would be the same, but I would hate to be an ASS in this situation. Just for curiosities sake, are the actual cutoff levels different for the two tests, or am I confusing this with the actual positive cutoff levels? I interpret this as, in the worst case scenario the cutoff levels are set at 15 ng/ml for a second confirmation test( I still don't know what this means practically) even though the test can detect as low as 1 ng/ml.

Rest assured, I trust your word on the upcoming test and am relieved. This question more for my own curiosity now.

Thanks again.

Sec

The general rule of thumb for hair tests is three or fewer sessions over the last 90 days will test negative. Anything more and you had better try a treatment or two.