April 18-20, 2016

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W E E K D AY E D I T I O N | A P R I L 18 - 2 0 , 2 0 16 | T W I C E W E E K LY I N P R I N T | O U D A I LY. C O M

OUDAILY

For 100 years, the student voice of the University of Oklahoma

A JOINT EFFORT: This special 4/20 edition is a collaboration between The Daily and Oklahoma Gazette, an alternative weekly publication based in Oklahoma City. Both publications’ stories focus on marijuana — issues of legalization and drug use surrounding weed.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTOPHER MICHIE/THE DAILY

THE BLUNT TRUTH A man holds a urine drug test in a bathroom. According to Scott Cecil, an outreach coordinator for Students for Sensible Drug Policy, marijuana can stay in the bloodstream for up to 30 days.

Marijuana can result in positive test for weeks LAUREN MASSING • @LAURENMASSING Editor’s note: Sarah Blightly is a pseudonym for a source who wished to remain anonymous.

A

c r u mp l e d b ox f o r a home drug test sits precariously on the edge of the bathroom counter while two more lie in the trash beside it. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, Sarah Blightly stares at the tiny box, with her heart pounding, as she waits for the timer to go off. A graduation cap and gown hang on the door inside the tiny apartment bathroom. The timer dings. A sigh of relief: negative. *** With graduation just weeks away, securing her dream internship at a well-respected newspaper in Texas should have been the icing on the cake to her college career — and it was. Until she was asked to take a drug test. As a chronic marijuana smoker, Blightly knew it would take weeks for the drug to get out of her system, so when her internship coordinator asked for a drug test weeks after she completed all of the paperwork, her heart sank. “My heart just dropped, because I’m like, ‘shit, I haven’t stopped smoking at all’ ... and for most chronic smokers, it takes about a month (to get out of your system),” Blightly said. As the deadline to take the drug test approached, the panic began to set in. The home drug tests Blightly used kept yielding the same answer: positive. She tried everything, even niacin — a drug used to treat high cholesterol that has been known to speed

up the detox of weed from the body — but no luck. When the 30-day deadline came around, the cannabis was still showing up in her system. “It was absolutely terrifying. It’s just the worst feeling ever when you go and look (at the drug test) and it shows up positive,” Blightly said.

“It was absolutely terrifying. It’s just the worst feeling ever when you go and look (at the drug test) and it shows up positive.” SARAH BLIGHTLY, OU GRADUATE

Since Blightly had not sent in her official drug test after the initial deadline, she said the newspaper rescinded her internship. After calling her coordinator to ask for a few more days, Blightly took her third home drug test and finally got the results she so desperately needed: the marijuana was out of her system. She sent in the results and saved her internship. “I think it’s really important people know how long (weed) stays in your system ... I just don’t think people realize,” Blightly said. Scott Cecil, an outreach coordinator for Students for Sensible

Drug Policy, a student-run organization dedicated to reforming drug policies, said drug tests that test for marijuana are problematic because of how long it takes the body to process the drug and get rid of it. Even for someone who only uses marijuana once, it can stay in one’s bloodstream for up to 30 days, he said. “Can you imagine what it would be like if you applied for a job that you really want to get, but three weeks ago you tried alcohol for the first time, so you don’t land the job? ... that literally happens to people who use marijuana even just on occasion,” Cecil said. For some employers, drug testing is absolutely necessary due to the nature of the job. According to OU Human Resources, drug testing is mandated prior to employment for ‘sensitive safety employees.’ A sensitive safety employee, according to USLegal Inc., is an employee that holds a position with the responsibility for his or her own safety or others’ safety. It would be especially dangerous for this type of employee to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol while on the job. Blightly’s advice: if you’re not sure whether your employer will require a drug test, just ask. “It’s your right to know ... they’re not going to assume you’re a drug user just because you a s k ab ou t a d r u g t e s t,” Blightly said. Lauren Massing lmassing@ou.edu

GET IT OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM

how long marijuana can be detected in urine tests chronic heavy marijuana use 30 days daily marijuana use 10 days moderate use 5 days single use 3 days

These are approximate detection times for the drug in urine. The actual detection time depends on dose, frequency of use and individual metabolism. Source: Mayo Clinic


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