Drug testing is a fairly common practice both when applying for, or while employed in, the education field, government departments such as the police force, positions that include operating machinery, and jobs involving transport of some kind, like driving a truck, bus or train, or flying a plane. However drug tests are not always limited to these (fairly obvious) areas, and in some states any employee can be made to take a test for absolutely no reason other than that is what the employer wants.

In most cases drug testing is justified as an essential tool, used only to make sure workers can do their job safely, or make rational decisions; an argument which is dismissed by opponents of workplace drug testing, in part because the accuracy of tests used is often questioned, and the result on paper often fails to reflect someone’s actual lifestyle. Read more about other methods for detoxing from weed here.

Popular methods of drug testing

Urine tests have always been the most favored form of collecting a sample for workplace drug testing, although blood, saliva, sweat, nail clippings and hair have also been used in some cases. However, as it has become much easier for workers to cheat on urine tests – with things like synthetic urine – hair analysis is fast becoming the method of choice. It’s also easier to monitor a hair test as the strands can be taken by the technician directly, without the privacy issues of supervising someone giving a urine sample.

More about the hair follicle test

Hair is a living thing which depends on blood to survive. The blood enters the hair strand via the follicle, which is attached to your scalp, so inevitably any traces of drugs in your blood are also going to be found in your hair. The test can detect weed consumption during at least the last three months, sometimes up to a year!
Unfortunately, if you use weed the THC remains active until your hair is cut, or treated in some way to destroy it, which is where detox methods come in.

Hair – weed detox SOS

Presuming your workplace isn’t allowed to do random tests you are bound to either get an official test date, or at least hear gossip and rumors of something being planned; and that is the time to take action. Quit smoking weed immediately, every minute counts from now on, and forget spending time with friends who smoke – hair is porous so why risk their smoke getting into your system?

Now it’s detox time. This is a serious commitment and will take effort, so gather all your enthusiasm and get right onto it. Below you can check out a variety of tips, ideas and suggestions. None are guaranteed to be 100% effective – the only way to achieve that is to stop smoking weed completely and test after a few months – but they work for some people so are worth a shot. There are some  that say that you can even lose hair from marijuana.

Popular methods of hair detoxing

The Macujo method

A popular approach to hair detoxing, this relies on treating hair with a concoction of special detox shampoos, vinegar, and laundry detergent. There are many guides around online with specific advice on things like timing, should you wish to give it a go. Read more about the macujo method here.

Brand name detox shampoos

These can range from $80 up to hundreds, so it’s not a casual spend, but the manufacturers claim such products clean hair of toxins, for a short window of time at least. There are copycat products around too, so always buy these from a reputable source.

DIY dye

This fairly drastic hair detox method involves washing, bleaching and then dyeing your hair, before applying a thick paste made from baking soda and water to both the hair and the scalp. After ten minutes wash out the gunk with a detox shampoo, and then again with a product like Zydot. The point is to get the traces of weed out of the hair cuticles, so this may be better for light weed users, as the hair of someone with a heavy or regular weed habit will hold THC deeper in the hair strand than this could possibly reach.

Natural detox

This is a much more gentle approach, but again it isn’t ideal for anyone who regularly consumes weed in some form.
Make your own rosemary shampoo by slowly heating the dried leaves with grapeseed oil for a couple of hours, before leaving it to cool overnight. In the morning simply massage the concoction into your scalp and hair and leave for around 30 minutes before washing it off with a detox shampoo.

It is worth mentioning that as it takes around 7-10 days for THC to work its way into the hair very new weed users have much less to worry about, and the same goes for light users. Many experts believe that a regular amount of cannabis must be consumed to produce an accurate positive result during hair analysis. This doesn’t guarantee that light or casual weed smokers can be certain of passing a hair follicle drug test, but it’s a definite incentive to either quit or cut way down to avoid being in the definite danger zone.

Heavier or regular weed consumption is going to mean drastic and demanding action to complete at least one detox cycle – perhaps several if a date for testing is in the air but not actually confirmed. Do also bear in mind that suddenly bleaching (and maybe even re-bleaching) your hair may arouse suspicion, as would shaving it all off – something you may come across as a tip for beating the hair test. That is unlikely to work, even if it did suit your overall look, as techs would be able to either look to take hair from elsewhere on your body, or refer you for a blood test instead!