CBD Oil for pilots
 

The doctor I see for arthritis has recommended CBD oil for arthritis pain. He did stress that the source is very important and that it should be batch tested.

Another surgeon friend who is an AME (not mine), has been studying CBD and is convinced of it’s therapeutic value for a lot of maladies. He said however that even CBD, labeled as having less than .2% THC might show up on a DOT drug screen.

I have found a CBD supplier with third party testing that shows the THC amount is “non detectable”.

Wife says it is not worth the risk. She does not have arthritis

Anyone with personal or professional experience with CBD and FAA are welcome to chime in.

I’m not finding anything on the web from the FAA, or DOT.

Would you bet $10M that it is undetectable?
Skip it. I am of the personal opinion that hemp and marijuana derived products have a lot of benefit and if used correctly are less harmful than a lot of chemicals that are allowed under FAA rules, including alcohol. Of course, my opinion counts for zero when you pop positive on a drug screen that ends your career.

Yup.

Doesn't matter how it got in your system, if you pop positive you're done.

I am aware of extremely rare cases where someone unintentionally ingested substances and was able to get a pass. But those cases involved witnesses who could testify as to the circumstances (one case where someone served enhanced baked goods at a party and though it was would be fun to not advise the guests... but the baker had to man up and testify to undo the damage).

I spoke with a compounding pharmacist about this. She seems to know something about the testing. Told me that there is a small chance that I could get a false positive, but the more precise secondary test would show no THC.

Don’t know how that would work.

That would be the internal process of the lab. That would be transparent to you, and would count as a negative test. Assuming the advice you got about CBD is correct...

I wouldn't go there unless DOT publishes guidance that says it's OK, and their test will discriminate.

To the OP, how close are you to retirement? Is the risk worth it to you? Perhaps you could be the first “test case”. Please keep us advised of the outcome.

If my body holds up, I intend to work (fly), after retirement from 121. There will also always be GA in my life.

CBD, could actually prolong my time in the seat. The more I learn about it, the more I am impressed.

It’s definitely a double edged sword at this point.

Find another doctor.

Great. Get him/her to provide whatever information convinced him/her to the FDA to see if it will convince them, because despite all the hype, nobody has shown this stuff works any better than a placebo.

https://www.aegislabs.com/clinical-u...annabidiol-oil

An excerpt:

One study has reported on the potential for CBD and THC to be present in urine after dosing 15 volunteers with high CBD/low THC oils, capsules, and cigarettes.2 Fourteen of the fifteen volunteers tested positive for both CBD and the marijuana metabolite carboxy-THC, suggesting these CBD preparations contained enough THC to elicit a positive urine drug test result after use.

Another recent study investigated the potential for CBD to degrade into the more psychoactive component THC after oral ingestion.1 Researchers exposed CBD solution to a simulated acidic stomach environment and assessed for the presence of CBD and THC by mass spectrometry over the course of 6 hours. THC was found to form from CBD within 2 hours of exposure to the acidic environment, suggesting oral ingestion of CBD may lead to systemic THC exposure.

There are lots of other Rx's for your ails than CBD. Do what you wish but I'd NEVER risk my decades of work over a SINGLE positive pop. That is ALL it takes Brother,

I say don't risk it......but you "do what you gotta do."

Ad Astra

Radial Gal

Find another remedy. The risk that one nanogram of one batch sold to you having a slightly detectable level of THC in it may seem slim to none but consider the alternate extreme...you get pulled for a random test and that slight amount (which probably wouldn’t have affected your abilities) shows up on the screening. You can explain the ailment and your choice of treatment after the fact until you’re blue in the face but it won’t do you any good. You just got a positive. That’s it. Now you’re jumping through the RTD/FU hoops, if they let you, for up to five years. Not worth it. According to the DOT and the Supreme Court - THC in any form is illegal for you to consume as a DOT/FAA regulated employee.