Railway drug test.

[smudga331]

Hello,

I had my medical yesterday to become a trainee conductor. All went well but I have to wait for my drug and alcohol screening results. I had poppy seeded bread, 2 slices just over a day before my medical, will this have an effect? And if so, will they be able to ascertain what has caused it?

Thanks

 

[scott118]

why did you have poppy seeded bread, prior to having your medical, if you think, it will have a detrimental effect on the results?

Do you rinse with mouthwash, before an alcohol test?

 

[dcsprior]

why did you have poppy seeded bread, prior to having your medical, if you think, it will have a detrimental effect on the results?

To be fair, the OP may not have known the possibility of a false-positive for opiates when he ate the poppy seed bread; and subsequently someone has told them (e.g. when they mentioned being at a D&A test, they joked about poppy seeds) or he's seen a reference to it in popular culture, etc, etc, etc

This article http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/poppyseed.asp says there's only the possibility of a false positive if the test used has a high sensitivity, i.e. a low threshold - perhaps someone knows the specifics of the testing used on the railway.

Sent from my LG-H340n using Tapatalk

 

[smudga331]

To be fair, the OP may not have known the possibility of a false-positive for opiates when he ate the poppy seed bread; and subsequently someone has told them (e.g. when they mentioned being at a D&A test, they joked about poppy seeds) or he's seen a reference to it in popular culture, etc, etc, etc

This article http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/poppyseed.asp says there's only the possibility of a false positive if the test used has a high sensitivity, i.e. a low threshold - perhaps someone knows the specifics of the testing used on the railway.

Sent from my LG-H340n using Tapatalk

Correct, i had no idea that it could have a bearing.

I went out to a wetherspoons for breakfast and it was served with it.

Is it worth letting the TOC know now?

Thanks.

 

[JohnFM]

The short answer is - yes, you could give a positive for opiates but unless you ate a whole kilo in weight of poppy seeds the chances of getting any contaminated poppy seeds and therefore enough of a dose to register then it should not be a problem. In theory one poppy seed in a million is contaminated. But what are the chances of you having enough of the contaminated seeds in your 2 slices of bread?

Whilst Snopes is a good source of a lot of info the fact that the seed pods are the only source of the opiate, not the seed, and that the seeds are washed and processed to remove any possible contamination from the seed pod the likelihood of a positive is miniscule.

Is it worth letting them know? Not much you can do about it now as the lab will have the specimen. No matter what you do or say now, after the fact, is totally irrelevant. Imagine the phone call . . . .

"Hello is that the lab?"

"Yes"

"Well, I've got a Mr Smith who remembers he has eaten poppy seeds so it might show up in his urine that you have for testing."

"Thanks for letting us know, we were wondering why it was so high."

"So he's OK for employment?"

"Well we thought he was a drug user but now you've explained he eats bread he should be fine, go ahead."

"Great, he will be pleased, thank you."

 

[smudga331]

I've called the TOC and let them know. They were very sweet about it and just said there are a number of every day substances that can alter the results of a drug test. In which case it will be sent away for further testing and then they will be able to see what has caused it. Perfect!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The short answer is - yes, you could give a positive for opiates but unless you ate a whole kilo in weight of poppy seeds the chances of getting any contaminated poppy seeds and therefore enough of a dose to register then it should not be a problem. In theory one poppy seed in a million is contaminated. But what are the chances of you having enough of the contaminated seeds in your 2 slices of bread?

Whilst Snopes is a good source of a lot of info the fact that the seed pods are the only source of the opiate, not the seed, and that the seeds are washed and processed to remove any possible contamination from the seed pod the likelihood of a positive is miniscule.

Is it worth letting them know? Not much you can do about it now as the lab will have the specimen. No matter what you do or say now, after the fact, is totally irrelevant. Imagine the phone call . . . .

"Hello is that the lab?"

"Yes"

"Well, I've got a Mr Smith who remembers he has eaten poppy seeds so it might show up in his urine that you have for testing."

"Thanks for letting us know, we were wondering why it was so high."

"So he's OK for employment?"

"Well we thought he was a drug user but now you've explained he eats bread he should be fine, go ahead."

"Great, he will be pleased, thank you."

Thanks for the info, i had no idea that it was the seed pod and not the seed that contained the opiate. Nor that the chances were so low, so that's nice to know.

I have spoken to the TOC who have said if anything did show then there would be further tests to ascertain the cause.

Thanks.

 

[TheEdge]

Is it worth having an pinned FAQ thread for this forum. Not about the process but about common questions. Things like the poppy seed false positive, paying for private psychometric tests. Generic questions that keep popping up.

 

[Need2]

Is it worth having an pinned FAQ thread for this forum. Not about the process but about common questions. Things like the poppy seed false positive, paying for private psychometric tests. Generic questions that keep popping up.

And a "has any body heard yet" thread

 

[Train1992]

Hello,

I had my medical yesterday to become a trainee conductor. All went well but I have to wait for my drug and alcohol screening results. I had poppy seeded bread, 2 slices just over a day before my medical, will this have an effect? And if so, will they be able to ascertain what has caused it?

Thanks

What TOC is this for? And what station? If you don't mind me asking

Thanks

 

[Bodiddly]

....Imagine the phone call . . . .

"Hello is that the lab?"

"Yes"

"Well, I've got a Mr Smith who remembers he has eaten poppy seeds so it might show up in his urine that you have for testing."

"Thanks for letting us know, we were wondering why it was so high."

"So he's OK for employment?"

"Well we thought he was a drug user but now you've explained he eats bread he should be fine, go ahead."

"Great, he will be pleased, thank you."

 

[Trackman]

why did you have poppy seeded bread, prior to having your medical, if you think, it will have a detrimental effect on the results?

Do you rinse with mouthwash, before an alcohol test?

cracked me up that post, especially the mouthwash one