can drug test tell the difference between marinol and natural cannabis

[dobby]

if any one has any info on this i would love to here it .i have to take a lot of pain meds just to make it day to day and my doctor has let me try marinol with my pain med and it help some but not like real cannabis. i am from florida and RX marijuana is not happening here i have to take drug test but if they can tell the difference i will just smoke marijuana and stop take some of these pills

[Weed420]

The only way possible to tell is if there is some other substance in marinol that would show up on a GC/MS test. And they call it synthetic so I'm not sure exactly what is in it. If its not really thc then it wouldn't show positive in an immunassay test. Have you ever taken a standard home UA test?

[merickson]

If you have a perscription for Marinol, residue in your tissues is not flunking a drug test. Anymore than being perscribed Demerol would put you in trouble.

[Soniq420]

Unfortunately they have developed a test (not GC).. See the snippet from the article below...

California NORML has recently heard increasing reports that Marinol patients are being drug tested and denied employment for use of marijuana. In particular, we have heard from legal Prop. 215 patients who were denied jobs despite presenting Marinol prescriptions after being re-tested specifically for marijuana. Until recently, Marinol and marijuana were indistinguishable on the standard drug tests, so that patients with a Marinol prescription had a valid medical excuse under federal law for testing positive for marijuana.

However, special testing techniques have been developed that make it possible to distinguish the two by testing for non-standard cannabinoids that appear in marijuana but not Marinol. Until recently, these tests were expensive and rarely used except in high-profile criminal cases. However, it appears that they are now being routinely used by certain laboratories in cases where Marinol use is claimed. In particular, we have heard reports of such testing being used to disqualify Marinol-using Prop 215 patients by the transportation industry and by Walmart.

[greenmonkey]

soniq hit the nail on the head. natural cannabis will have many more chemicals that marinol doenst have and they can easily test for those extras.

[RooRman]

On the one hand, basic drug testing looks for the metabolite of THC, not THC itself. As such, a basic drug test performed on a Marinol user will turn up positive due to the presence of the THC metabolite in the system.

However, Soniq420 brings up an interesting point and I was not aware of any higher standard of testing for Marinol users.

I would tell them that you are a prescription Marinol user, and present them a copy of your prescription at the time of testing. This may allow you to recieve such special testing that will allow them to differentiate Marinol use from marijuana use.

Although as Soniq420 said such testing is specialized and expensive, they may choose to use standard testing despite your claims in which case you will test positive. It seems whether or not your prescription will allow these results to be ignored is on a case by case basis.

[Soniq420]

My understanding is that the new test is reagent based and calibrated to detect CBD and/or CBN

After THC, these are the next cannabanoids in highest concentration [of the 66+ cannabinoids identified in marijuana to date]

So if you take marinol you shouldn't have CBD and CBN in your system.

They have developed a way to eliminate the smoker's excuse that they failed the drug test because of marinol usage.

[RooRman]

Originally Posted by Soniq420

My understanding is that the new test is reagent based and calibrated to detect CBD and/or CBN

After THC, these are the next cannabanoids in highest concentration [of the 66+ cannabinoids identified in marijuana to date]

So if you take marinol you shouldn't have CBD and CBN in your system.

They have developed a way to eliminate the smoker's excuse that they failed the drug test because of marinol usage.

Thanks for the clarification Soniq420, thats exactly what I thought. Screen for other minor cannibinols instead of just THC.

[Weed420]

This is really kind of a tough issue. You are a legal Marinol user but is MJ shows up in a UA you are normally, automatically fired. They usually won't even have the MRO contact you. So its probably worth discussing with HR and maybe the owner of the company if you can.