Is CBD Oil Okay for School Bus Drivers?

With the rising costs of health care in the country, more and more people are turning to non-prescription products in an attempt to cure their various ailments.  Among various alternatives, the use of cannabidiol (CBD) oil is growing, due to its seeming efficacy at treating a variety of mental- and pain-related problems.

CBD oil is derived from plants containing cannabis, a primary ingredient in marijuana - which is still a Schedule I illegal drug at the Federal level. The oil itself is theoretically legal to use, and widely sold in pharmacies and health food stores, but there have been a lot of questions lately about whether school bus drivers can use it without fear.

Can Bus Drivers Safely Use CBD Oil?

The short answer is this: In theory CBD oil is safe and legal to use. However, in practice, the odds that a regular user of CBD will fail a drug test are unacceptably high. As such, it is strongly recommended that school bus drivers avoid CBD.

There are three major factors involved here:

1 - All CBD oil contains small amounts of THC

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana, and the presence of THC is largely what determines the difference between legal plants and illegal drugs. The amount of THC in CBD oil is supposed to be less than .03%, which is well below the threshold for illegality.  However, that is not always true, because...

2 - CBD manufacturing is almost entirely unregulated

The FDA has no standards in place for controlling the manufacture of CBD oil, nor is there an industry group capable of enforcing standardized best practices. Because of this, the actual amount of THC in CBD oils can vary drastically between manufacturers, with end-users having no real way to know how much THC is actually in the product. CBD oils with illegal concentrations of THC continue to be found on the market. 

Unfortunately, that's not the biggest concern.

3 - THC builds up in the body for at least a month

THC is notoriously slow to leave the body after ingestion, migrating into fat cells and staying there for a month or more.  So, even if a school bus driver were to only use CBD oil with low amounts of THC, that THC would build up over time with regular use.  

Of course, at any time in this process, if the driver takes a drug test and it tests positive for high levels of THC, they would be immediately fired with no recourse. Therefore, as things stand, taking CBD oil as a bus driver is simply too risky.

What do you think? Should policies be updated to (somehow) account for CBD oil use?  Let us know in the comments!