When Drug Testing Fails – CBD, Delta-8, and Hemp

May 29, 2026

Many healthcare professions rely on random testing to help ensure that nurses and other healthcare professionals are not under the influence of drugs. The goal of this testing is, of course, to ensure patient safety. But these tests can be inaccurate, and sometimes detect compounds that do not always reflect the use of illegal or banned substances. In particular, products such as CBD, Delta-8, and hemp derivatives can leave trace amounts of THC in the blood that can result in false positive drug test results.

If you have been unfairly accused of failing a drug test because of your use of a product that contains THC, the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can help. We can defend you at both the employer and license level, and are ready to protect your rights so that you can continue working in your nursing or other healthcare position. Call us at 888.535.3686, or submit our online contact form, and we’ll schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your case and explain how we can help.

False Positive Results in Drug Tests

It is not uncommon for drug tests designed to detect the use of marijuana to also return a positive result if the subject has been using any of a number of hemp-derived products. Products that can trigger a positive result for lingering amounts of THC include:

  • Balms, tinctures, and edibles that include CBD (cannabidiol), a hemp-derived compound
  • Products containing Delta-8, a product that can be synthetically derived from CBD
  • Smokeable hemp, hemp oils, and other hemp-containing products

The problem is that even though some of these products should not contain THC – the active ingredient in marijuana that drug tests typically look for – some of them do anyway. And even for products that claim to contain very small levels of THC, below the 0.3% level that the government designates as the maximum legal level for CBD products, quality control is not always as strong as it should be. The result is that users may ingest more THC than what the product claims it includes.

In addition, because THC accumulates in the blood, the more you use one of these types of products, the more likely you are to fail a drug test as a result. That is why if you are working in a profession where drug testing is required, you need to be extremely careful about using any of these types of hemp-derived products.

The LLF National Law Firm Can Defend You Against False-Positive Drug Tests

If you have failed your employer’s drug test because you have recently or regularly used CBD or another hemp-derived product, contact the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team for help. Our experienced attorneys can help you discuss your case with your employer, and in the event a complaint is filed with a licensing body such as your state’s board of nursing or other healthcare licensing organization, we can defend you in that case as well.

Our attorneys regularly defend clients all over the country who have been unfairly accused of drug use. We know the laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that apply in these cases, and we are ready to go to bat for you to protect your license, your livelihood, and your future. Call us today at 888.535.3686, or fill out our online contact form. We will schedule a confidential consultation to review your case and explain how the LLF National Law Firm can help.

 

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