News (Media Awareness Project) - US: Federal Times: US v. Gaines |
| Title: | US: Federal Times: US v. Gaines |
| Published On: | 1998-02-21 |
| Source: | Federal Times |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-07 15:12:56 |
US v. GAINES
Officials involved in workplace drug testing got a chilling reminder
recently of the hazards of false readings.
Clinton administration officials are reviewing tests for marijuana after
the acquittal of an Air Force master sergeant court-martialed for allegedly
using the drug.
A military jury acquitted Master Sgt. Spencer Gaines in December after
finding that an over-the-counter health product may have caused him to fail
drug tests.
Gaines, a weight lifter stationed at Dover AFB, Del., testified that he
began using Hemp Liquid Gold in 1996 as a replacement for essential fatty
acids. He bought the product at a Washington, D.C. grocery store.
Gaines' attorney, Charles Gittins, showed that hemp oil can cause positive
marijuana readings.
A federal law passed in 1937 that made marijuana illegal excludes hemp oil
and seeds from the definition of marijuana, effectively making such
byproducts legal.
Regulations by the Drug Enforcement Agency, however, make
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a chemical ingredient of marijuana, illegal.
Federal drug tests consider THC levels above 15 nanograms to be indicative
of marijuana use. Gaines' THC level during a drug urinalysis last year was
28 nanograms, DoD tests showed. A test five months later put Gaines' THC
level at 35 nanograms, which led to the court-martial.
But after two government toxicologists testified that they did not know THC
was in the Hemp Liquid Gold, Gittins argued that Gaines should not be held
responsible.
The military jury agreed, but some civilians involved in drug testing do not.
An official with the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy
and another with the Health and Human Services Department, both of whom
asked not to be named, advocated a hard line on workplace drug testing.
"I know I can be randomly drug-tested at any time," the drug policy
official said. "I watch very carefully what I use."
Those individual opinions reflect the mood of the federal government on
marijuana issues.
After voters in California passed the so called "medical marijuana" law
last year allowing prescription use of marijuana, the drug-control policy
office and the Transportation Department responded that any use of an
illicit drug, even with a prescription, violates federal drug-testing
policy, the HHS official said.
An interagency group that meets regularly to discuss drug policy issues
decided at a Jan. 15 meeting to do more scientific testing of hemp and its
effects on marijuana readings, the official said.
Although the action is being taken because of the Gaines case, those who
track drug policy have been looking into the problems for years, she said.
This did not catch us by surprise at all," she said. We've been looking at
hemp issues for a long time."
Some at the Jan. 15 meeting said they had done lab tests of hemp in which
they got positive readings, then retested and got negative readings, the
official said.
Agencies will use their scientific expertise to determine if changes need
to be made to drug tests or policy, she said.
"We have issue an here, but we don't know that we have a problem," she
said. "The system may not be broken."
If there is a problem, the official acknowledged, "there could be huge
implications" for agencies that do drug tests.
Of 111 agencies that reported drug-testing results between April and
September 1995-the last calculation by the government - 49 agencies
conducted 44,193 tests.
Of those, 342, about eight-tenths of 1 percent, had positive use readings,
HHS documents say.
Of those who tested positive, 199, or 58 percent, were for marijuana; 96,
or 28 percent, were for cocaine; 37, or 11 percent, were for amphetamines.
Opiates and PCP showed up eight times each.
Some federal unions have long complained that the costs of conducting drug
tests are not worth the few people who test positive.
The six-month reporting period in 1995 cost $4.9 million, or about $56 per
person tested, HHS documents say.
Copyright © 1998 Army Times Publishing Company
Title: Hemp oil ingestion causes positive urine tests for delta
9-tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid.
Source: Journal of Analytical Toxicology 1997 Oct;21(6):482-485
Authors: Costantino A, Schwartz RH, Kaplan P
American Medical Laboratory, Chantilly, Virginia 20151, USA.
Abstract:
A hemp oil product (Hemp Liquid Gold) was purchased from a specialty food
store. Fifteen milliliters was consumed by seven adult volunteers. Urine
samples were taken from the subjects before ingestion and at 8, 24, and 48
h after the dose was taken. All specimens were screened by enzyme
immunoassay with SYVA EMIT II THC 20, THC 50, and THC 100 kits. The
tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (THCA) concentration was determined on
all samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) (5). A total of
18 postingestion samples were submitted. Fourteen of the samples screened
above the 20-ng cutoff, seven were above the 50-ng cutoff, and two screened
greater than the 100-ng cutoff. All of the postingestion samples showed the
presence of THCA by GC-MS.
PMID: 9323529, UI: 97464816
Title: Marijuana-Positive Urine Test Results From Consumption Of Hemp Seeds
In Food Products.
Source: Journal of Analytical Toxicology 1997 Oct;21(6):476-481
Authors: Fortner N, Fogerson R, Lindman D, Iversen T, Armbruster D
PharmChem Laboratories, Inc., Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
Abstract:
Commercially available snack bars and other foodstuffs prepared from
pressed hemp seeds were ingested by volunteers. Urine specimens were
collected for 24 h after ingestion of the foodstuffs containing hemp seeds
and tested for marijuana using an EMIT immunoassay and gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Specimens from individuals who
ate one hemp seed bar demonstrated little marijuana immunoreactivity, and
only one specimen screened positive at a 20-ng/mL cutoff. Specimens from
individuals who ate two hemp seed bars showed increased immunoreactivity,
and five specimens screened positive at a 20-ng/mL cutoff. A single
specimen yielded a quantitative GC-MS value (0.6 ng/mL), but it failed to
meet reporting criteria. Several specimens from individuals who ate three
cookies made from hemp seed flour and butter screened positive at both 50-
and 20-ng/mL cutoffs. Two specimens produced quantitative GC-MS values (0.7
and 3.1 ng/mL), but they failed to meet reporting criteria. Several
specimens also tested positive with an FDA-approved on-site
marijuana-screening device. Hemp seeds similar to those used in the
foodstuffs did not demonstrate the presence of marijuana when tested by
GC-MS. In this study, ingestion of hemp seed food products resulted in
urine specimens that screened positive for marijuana. No specimens gave a
GC-MS quantitative value above the limit of detection for marijuana.
PMID: 9323528, UI: 97464815
Officials involved in workplace drug testing got a chilling reminder
recently of the hazards of false readings.
Clinton administration officials are reviewing tests for marijuana after
the acquittal of an Air Force master sergeant court-martialed for allegedly
using the drug.
A military jury acquitted Master Sgt. Spencer Gaines in December after
finding that an over-the-counter health product may have caused him to fail
drug tests.
Gaines, a weight lifter stationed at Dover AFB, Del., testified that he
began using Hemp Liquid Gold in 1996 as a replacement for essential fatty
acids. He bought the product at a Washington, D.C. grocery store.
Gaines' attorney, Charles Gittins, showed that hemp oil can cause positive
marijuana readings.
A federal law passed in 1937 that made marijuana illegal excludes hemp oil
and seeds from the definition of marijuana, effectively making such
byproducts legal.
Regulations by the Drug Enforcement Agency, however, make
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a chemical ingredient of marijuana, illegal.
Federal drug tests consider THC levels above 15 nanograms to be indicative
of marijuana use. Gaines' THC level during a drug urinalysis last year was
28 nanograms, DoD tests showed. A test five months later put Gaines' THC
level at 35 nanograms, which led to the court-martial.
But after two government toxicologists testified that they did not know THC
was in the Hemp Liquid Gold, Gittins argued that Gaines should not be held
responsible.
The military jury agreed, but some civilians involved in drug testing do not.
An official with the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy
and another with the Health and Human Services Department, both of whom
asked not to be named, advocated a hard line on workplace drug testing.
"I know I can be randomly drug-tested at any time," the drug policy
official said. "I watch very carefully what I use."
Those individual opinions reflect the mood of the federal government on
marijuana issues.
After voters in California passed the so called "medical marijuana" law
last year allowing prescription use of marijuana, the drug-control policy
office and the Transportation Department responded that any use of an
illicit drug, even with a prescription, violates federal drug-testing
policy, the HHS official said.
An interagency group that meets regularly to discuss drug policy issues
decided at a Jan. 15 meeting to do more scientific testing of hemp and its
effects on marijuana readings, the official said.
Although the action is being taken because of the Gaines case, those who
track drug policy have been looking into the problems for years, she said.
This did not catch us by surprise at all," she said. We've been looking at
hemp issues for a long time."
Some at the Jan. 15 meeting said they had done lab tests of hemp in which
they got positive readings, then retested and got negative readings, the
official said.
Agencies will use their scientific expertise to determine if changes need
to be made to drug tests or policy, she said.
"We have issue an here, but we don't know that we have a problem," she
said. "The system may not be broken."
If there is a problem, the official acknowledged, "there could be huge
implications" for agencies that do drug tests.
Of 111 agencies that reported drug-testing results between April and
September 1995-the last calculation by the government - 49 agencies
conducted 44,193 tests.
Of those, 342, about eight-tenths of 1 percent, had positive use readings,
HHS documents say.
Of those who tested positive, 199, or 58 percent, were for marijuana; 96,
or 28 percent, were for cocaine; 37, or 11 percent, were for amphetamines.
Opiates and PCP showed up eight times each.
Some federal unions have long complained that the costs of conducting drug
tests are not worth the few people who test positive.
The six-month reporting period in 1995 cost $4.9 million, or about $56 per
person tested, HHS documents say.
Copyright © 1998 Army Times Publishing Company
Title: Hemp oil ingestion causes positive urine tests for delta
9-tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid.
Source: Journal of Analytical Toxicology 1997 Oct;21(6):482-485
Authors: Costantino A, Schwartz RH, Kaplan P
American Medical Laboratory, Chantilly, Virginia 20151, USA.
Abstract:
A hemp oil product (Hemp Liquid Gold) was purchased from a specialty food
store. Fifteen milliliters was consumed by seven adult volunteers. Urine
samples were taken from the subjects before ingestion and at 8, 24, and 48
h after the dose was taken. All specimens were screened by enzyme
immunoassay with SYVA EMIT II THC 20, THC 50, and THC 100 kits. The
tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (THCA) concentration was determined on
all samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) (5). A total of
18 postingestion samples were submitted. Fourteen of the samples screened
above the 20-ng cutoff, seven were above the 50-ng cutoff, and two screened
greater than the 100-ng cutoff. All of the postingestion samples showed the
presence of THCA by GC-MS.
PMID: 9323529, UI: 97464816
Title: Marijuana-Positive Urine Test Results From Consumption Of Hemp Seeds
In Food Products.
Source: Journal of Analytical Toxicology 1997 Oct;21(6):476-481
Authors: Fortner N, Fogerson R, Lindman D, Iversen T, Armbruster D
PharmChem Laboratories, Inc., Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
Abstract:
Commercially available snack bars and other foodstuffs prepared from
pressed hemp seeds were ingested by volunteers. Urine specimens were
collected for 24 h after ingestion of the foodstuffs containing hemp seeds
and tested for marijuana using an EMIT immunoassay and gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Specimens from individuals who
ate one hemp seed bar demonstrated little marijuana immunoreactivity, and
only one specimen screened positive at a 20-ng/mL cutoff. Specimens from
individuals who ate two hemp seed bars showed increased immunoreactivity,
and five specimens screened positive at a 20-ng/mL cutoff. A single
specimen yielded a quantitative GC-MS value (0.6 ng/mL), but it failed to
meet reporting criteria. Several specimens from individuals who ate three
cookies made from hemp seed flour and butter screened positive at both 50-
and 20-ng/mL cutoffs. Two specimens produced quantitative GC-MS values (0.7
and 3.1 ng/mL), but they failed to meet reporting criteria. Several
specimens also tested positive with an FDA-approved on-site
marijuana-screening device. Hemp seeds similar to those used in the
foodstuffs did not demonstrate the presence of marijuana when tested by
GC-MS. In this study, ingestion of hemp seed food products resulted in
urine specimens that screened positive for marijuana. No specimens gave a
GC-MS quantitative value above the limit of detection for marijuana.
PMID: 9323528, UI: 97464815
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