ATLANTA — CBD, Delta 8, and Delta 9 products from gummies to creams to oils all promise to relieve pain and stress.
But Channel 2 Action News Investigates found they can also cause lots of grief by getting you fired.
You can legally buy CBD, Delta 8, and Delta 9 in Georgia as long as it is derived from hemp, not marijuana and it contains less than .3% THC. But Channel 2 Action News found those products can still show up just like marijuana on a drug test, and even if it is legal, it can still get you fired.
One chewable Delta 9 gummy promising non-addictive pain relief has left Tim Woody suffering.
“So, in their eyes, you know, I was the hero, and to me, I was,” said Woody.
He recently told his children he lost his job.
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“So, I try to help them understand that I’m no longer a special agent. I’m no longer an investigator with the board and I’m no longer employed in law enforcement,” said Woody.
He had just celebrated five years at the Georgia Composite Medical Board in September.
“You look proud,” said Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco.
“I was. I was very proud,” said Woody.
He decided to try the gummy for his psoriatic arthritis pain.
“Once the effects became fully active, I realized that I was in for more than I bargained for. Sleepy. Dizzy. Extremely paranoid. And the next morning when it was time to get up and go to work. I was able to work, but I was fuzzy. I felt like I had a hangover,” said Woody.
Two days later, he took a random drug test at work and failed. Then, managers showed up at his door.
“He said, ‘I need your badge and gun. You’re being terminated.’ And I looked at both of them and I asked them, what did I do wrong?” said Woody.
He said he never took marijuana, only that one gummy.
“How is that wrong? What? That came from a store,” said Woody.
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Channel 2 Action News bought the same kind of gummies Woody took and sent them to a lab for testing.
Results showed no Delta 9, only THC-P, a legal but much stronger ingredient.
“You definitely do not want to drive, operate machine, or do anything that would put you in jeopardy of being injured,” said Woody.
Chemist Kevin Middleton runs a Georgia company that tests hemp products. He said whether you had CBD, a Delta 9 product with below .3% THC or illegal marijuana, many employer drug tests can’t tell the difference.
“It’s more of an indicator to detect presence. But if you’re looking at a more sophisticated test… they’re able to quantitate just how much is in your system,” said Middleton.
That could help you argue that you shouldn’t be fired. But in law enforcement it may not matter.
“Anything that is going to impact their ability to do their job safely and effectively is something that is going to be looked at very seriously,” said Chris Harvey, the Deputy Executive Director of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST).
Georgia POST warns officers to avoid all CBD and Delta products, even legal ones. Because the Food and Drug Administration does not regulate them, what is in each bottle and how much of it can vary.
“It may still be legal to buy in a store. It may contain products that are not legal to be sold. And either the seller or the buyer may not be aware of it,” said Harvey.
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This year Georgia began requiring cannabis sellers to have lab reports proving products are below the legal limit for THC. But employers can still ban you from using them.
State agencies like Woody’s prohibit any amount of THC, even from hemp.
“As far as CBD use, we have had a small number of cases where that’s been an issue,” said Harvey.
He said given how popular legal products have become POST is paying attention to see if policies like this make it harder to hire.
“Most agencies are looking for people and sometimes are having a hard time finding them,” said Harvey.
Woody would give anything to have his job back and hopes his loss is a warning to others.
“For someone like me to lose my career with a wife and kids, a houseful of kids, it’s going to happen again,” said Woody.
In this case, the package of gummies Woody took clearly said it had THC-P. But because it is legal, he didn’t realize it was so strong, or that it could show up on a drug test and cost him his job.
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