"My job will do random testing. My customers are international and abide by Federal rather than state law. I need pain treatment that will not remain long in my system but will be sufficient to cover surgical pain from a joint reconstruction. I’m allergic to all prescribed pain meds and anti-inflammatory drugs. I manage my chronic pain but surgery is a different animal. "
Cannabis is indeed a viable alternative to opioids to help treat post operative pain. The only issue will be that any type of use except for topicals may show up in your urine if they test for THC. Depending on how frequently you would use it, and then stop, it can take up to 30 days for the THC to be undetected in your urine. If you use a patch that has plastic on the outside, the absorption can also become systemic and THC can still show up in your urine due to to the backing forcing all of the cannabis ointment into your system.
A topical that is just rubbed onto the skin without any covering should not be systemically absorbed in quantities enough to appear in your urine.
Perry Solomon, MD
