Cal Truckers, MJ Marinol, and the DOT

[DoobieDuck]

CA. Truckers/Med MJ/Marinol/and the DOT?

I have a buddy who is a qualified Med patient in California, he is also a Class 1 or class A, I don’t know which,. Trucker. His cannabis use is causing him problems with his livelihood vs the Department of Transportation. He gets periodic piss tests and has just failed one for cannabis. Now not only can he not drive and support his family, he has to go to re-hab classes and pay for those, as well as quit using the medication that is helping him sleep at night. He does not use when on the job.
My question is, if he has a prescription for Marinol possibly that drug will help him in the same way cannabis does and it would qualify under the DOT rules?? The DOT does not recognize medical marijuana as a legal drug..period! This has been an on-going injustice with-in the two branches of government for some time and does not seem to have a solution in the near future.
Truckers..please help me and my buddy out here, if you use Marinol or have any facts for us they'd be much appreciated, thanks DD

 

[Tripsick]

I would think Marinol will qualify as an acceptable form of THC since it was Perscribed by your doctor and not recommended by your doctor. Same thing would go for Opiate pain killers for pain or Methamphetamine for ADHD... Plus THC is going to stay in your system so much longer i think it would be a good idea to have a script for marinol just to save you in any form of discrimination. Someone needs to fight this battle in court. I Figure Cali will be the place since they have better labor laws that most places.

 

[jose69]

I would think Marinol will qualify as an acceptable form of THC since it was Perscribed by your doctor and not recommended by your doctor. Same thing would go for Opiate pain killers for pain or Methamphetamine for ADHD... Plus THC is going to stay in your system so much longer i think it would be a good idea to have a script for marinol just to save you in any form of discrimination. Someone needs to fight this battle in court. I Figure Cali will be the place since they have better labor laws that most places.

i just read something after doing a search on marinol since your buddy is a trucker they go by fed standards so first one test is performed if it comes in positive they run a second test thats more sophisticated the article claims that the labs can now tell the difference between pot and marinol .I'm in the building trades and my union tests yearly but they dont search us when we test so just get some fresh clean urine from some one or do they search truckers before they drug test?

 

[jose69]

ca. supreme court ruled that a Dr. rec does not protect against getting fired for a positive test (cannabis)

 

[Lazyman]

No, we're not talking about recommendations from a doctor, but an actual prescription for marinol from a doctor/pharmacy. The FDA must have certified Marinol or it couldn't be prescribed, so the question is which agency (FDA or DOT) has more clout?

 

[crazybear]

If they only do the simple test Marinol will pass but if they do spectro it is different, marinol only has thc not cbd's etc.!
It is an injustice but until they reshedule it it will only continue!

 

[headiez247]

What an unfortunate situation.

He really should of known/looked into this before he started using. He obviously knew he was getting drug tests and shouldn't of just assumed that weed would be ok.

Sadly he isn't going to get much headway here. I doubt we will ever see DOT or any trucking company for that matter being ok with someone driving a gigantic 18 wheeler while under the influence of marijuana, whether it be marinol or otherwise. It is a safety issue and also has insurance ties. Even if a company did think it was ok (which will never happen) their insurance carrier would say heeeeelllll no.

You need to remember that even in California, if you are a med patient, you are NOT allowed to drive after or while medicating, and commercial truck drivers are no different. Truck drivers have even more stringent rules because one fuck up and they can kill a ton of people with what amounts to a moving building that they are driving. For example, a truck driver's BAC legal limit is less then that of a normal passenger driver.

The bottom line is sadly he won't get any leeway, and probably never will. You will never convince a company/government/insurance company that it is ok for a 18 wheeler driver to be high while operating his dangerous job, and to be honest I agree with them.

 

[jose69]

No, we're not talking about recommendations from a doctor, but an actual prescription for marinol from a doctor/pharmacy. The FDA must have certified Marinol or it couldn't be prescribed, so the question is which agency (FDA or DOT) has more clout?

as i said before the testing labs can now tell the difference between marinol and marijuana isn't that not the reason why he would get a prescription for marinol so he can hide his cannabis use besides your not allowed to operate heavy equipment while tacking prescription drugs like norcos or codeines

 

[jose69]

sorry i think i miss read the question i dont think marinol works for insomnia

 

[Rysam]

I feel sorry for your buddy. I failed a whiz quiz with a class A CDL. I was not driver at the time, just had the license from a previous driving job and on the insurance as a backup for the boss. Unfortunately Its a Federal license and they dont cut you slack on shit, at least they didnt for me..

 

[Tripsick]

Dry urine then if no one fights it in court.

 

[crazybear]

I failed one for the FAA luckily there's a provision, had a month vacation & back to work after a piss test& all the time peeing in the bottle, Dot is against weed & drugs in general!

 

[HUGE]

He is fucked. Urinator is the best bet but hear pretty much fucked if he cares about his job at all.

 

[DoobieDuck]

Well many thanks guys..appreciated greatly, I did not expect so many peeps to chime in so soon. To answer a few things, he cares abot his job and others on the highway, he did check into it before getting his script, He knew what he was up against. He uses for pain relief thus bennefits from better sleep. He is in a very rural area and seldom sees a tester, but the consortium travels out there and catches them somewhat un-announced. They call and he has only 30 minuts before they show up.
He's looked into the Whiz and all the other alternatives, I'm not sure about dry urine Tripstick. Jose...I did not know about the second test for marinol, I'll do some further research and post anything I find.. His tester asked him at the time of taking the sample if he was a marinol user. There could be two reasons for them doing that, first so they would know to perform the second test, or, as we were hoping, that they would have to dis-allow any THC showing up in his test due to his possibly having a script for that. Thanks again, please keep the info flowing..DD

EDIT: here it is.the low down on it from Ca Norml: Drug Testing in California

They have this to say about Marinol
"One possible excuse for a positive marijuana test that sometimes works is a prescription for Marinol®, the FDA-approved synthetic marijuana pill that is currently available as a schedule 3 prescription drug. Marinol used to be indistinguishable from marijuana on both immunoassay and GCMS tests, creating a valid medical excuse for a false THC positive. However, some labs have begun to adopt a new technology that can distinguish Marinol from marijuana. Obnoxious as it may be for employers to fault employees for using marijuana instead of Marinol, use of Marinol can no longer be recommended as a technique for evading unfair drug tests. "



I'd still like to here from some more truckers..breaker breaker good buddies...
This link has the whole story on med MJ and the work place issue. Does not look good for my buddy...DD

 

[bigdaddyc9]

I doubt you can obtain Marinol for pain reilief.If that were the case Id have it made as I am scripted marinol,10mg 3 times a day but it is scripted for cyclic vomiting and nausea.Marinol effects me like a heavy duty sativa-racy thoughts and paranoia.I hate it,but it sometimes keeps me from "playing the porcelin tuba".

 

[jose69]

Well many thanks guys..appreciated greatly, I did not expect so many peeps to chime in so soon. To answer a few things, he cares abot his job and others on the highway, he did check into it before getting his script, He knew what he was up against. He uses for pain relief thus bennefits from better sleep. He is in a very rural area and seldom sees a tester, but the consortium travels out there and catches them somewhat un-announced. They call and he has only 30 minuts before they show up.
He's looked into the Whiz and all the other alternatives, I'm not sure about dry urine Tripstick. Jose...I did not know about the second test for marinol, I'll do some further research and post anything I find.. His tester asked him at the time of taking the sample if he was a marinol user. There could be two reasons for them doing that, first so they would know to perform the second test, or, as we were hoping, that they would have to dis-allow any THC showing up in his test due to his possibly having a script for that. Thanks again, please keep the info flowing..DD

EDIT: here it is.the low down on it from Ca Norml: Drug Testing in California

They have this to say about Marinol
"One possible excuse for a positive marijuana test that sometimes works is a prescription for Marinol®, the FDA-approved synthetic marijuana pill that is currently available as a schedule 3 prescription drug. Marinol used to be indistinguishable from marijuana on both immunoassay and GCMS tests, creating a valid medical excuse for a false THC positive. However, some labs have begun to adopt a new technology that can distinguish Marinol from marijuana. Obnoxious as it may be for employers to fault employees for using marijuana instead of Marinol, use of Marinol can no longer be recommended as a technique for evading unfair drug tests. "



I'd still like to here from some more truckers..breaker breaker good buddies...
This link has the whole story on med MJ and the work place issue. Does not look good for my buddy...DD

thats the same article i read but the question is do they search him and watch him as he gives his test? because if they dont then he can just keep some synthetic urine around they sell it in head shops it comes with instructions and a glove warmer to bring it up to body temp

 

[hazy]

Arizona's MMJ law says employers can not discriminate against employees or potential employees who test positive as long as they are not high at work.

That said, trucking companies are under DOT regs. state and federal. And since they are 'safety sensitive' positions no slack at all.

 

[Tripsick]

Thats great news for Az residents.