CBD or Not to CBD, That is The Question!
My employer will not allow me to use CBD or Delta8 or anything like that. My job requires that I maintain a high-security clearance and one of the stipulations for my job, is that I can’t use anything that is controlled by the DEA, well that isn’t actually a true statement either. My doctor can prescribe me a narcotic and I can use that for pain, but if she prescribed me CBD, I can’t take that.
Ugh, I swear the federal government can be so f’d up at times. I’m sure there is some silly ass logic to it somewhere, but I find it so odd, that they are fine with me taking fists full of medications for pain instead of one natural CBD gummy or whatever.
I am prescribed Gabapentin for Rheumatoid Arthritis/Fibromyalgia pain in my hands and feet, I am prescribed Tramadol for my costochondritis, and on the days that the pain is really bad, I have a prescription for hydrocodone. All three medications are controlled, with the hydrocodone being a Schedule 2, the Tramadol being a Schedule 4, and the gabapentin being a Schedule 5. So what is cannabidiol (CBD), you ask, well it was a Schedule 2, but currently, it is a Schedule 5 as long as it has been approved by the FDA. This means that it has to be prescribed in order to get the “good” stuff.
What in the hell do I mean by schedule, “2” or “5”? The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the statute establishing federal U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of certain substances is regulated. It was passed by the 91st United States Congress as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon. The Act also served as the national implementing legislation for the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
The legislation created five schedules (classifications), with varying qualifications for a substance to be included in each. Two federal agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), determine which substances are added to or removed from the various schedules, although the statute passed by Congress created the initial listing. Congress has sometimes scheduled other substances through legislation such as the Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Prevention Act of 2000, which placed gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in Schedule I and sodium oxybate (the isolated sodium salt in GHB) in Schedule III when used under an FDA NDA or IND. Classification decisions are required to be made on criteria including potential for abuse (an undefined term), currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and international treaties. Thank you, Wikipedia
For something to be a controlled substance under the Federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), it must be specifically scheduled and assigned one of five scheduling criteria:
Schedule 1 – Drugs in this category have a high potential to be abused and have no accepted medical use. Recreational drugs like MDMA (ecstasy or molly); LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and Heroin (to name a few) are in this class of drugs
Schedule 2 – Drugs in this category have a high potential to be abused, and have an accepted medical use. Drugs like Amphetamines; Cocaine; Codeine and Hydrocodone (to name a few) are in this class
Schedule 3 – Drugs in this category have a medium potential to be abused, and have accepted medical uses. Drugs like Ketamine, Anabolic steroids, and Benzphetamine HCl (Didrex) are in this class
Schedule 4 – Drugs in this category have a moderate potential to be abused, and have accepted medical uses. Drugs like Tramadol, Difenoxin, and Carisoprodol are in this class
Schedule 5 – Drugs in this category have the lowest potential to be abused, and have accepted medical uses. Drugs like Cough suppressants containing small amounts of codeine, gabapentin, and Cannabidiol are in this class
I know that some organizations and companies are allowing hemp products, but not the Federal Government. So I guess in the meantime (until I retire in 3 years) I will take fistful after fistful of pills just to get by.
I think the United States Federal Government needs to modernize and get with the program. Wake up and start taking care of your employees. I get it, I really do, you don’t want anyone to take CBD, because it will show up as a cannabinoid and you can’t tell if that is CBD or marijuana. I know that where I work, they did a drug test at the end of COVID when employees were forced to come back to work onsite (I was essential so I worked every day regardless). The results of that drug test were dozens of people getting busted for drug usage. I guess they got high to pass the time away during COVID.Â
