INDIANAPOLIS — Rose Maxey applied for a temporary job with Eclipse Staffing this week, and was required to take a drug test. A representative for the company gave RTV6 one of the tests they use.
"The problem is this is a rapid response test," Lisa Wilken, a certified lab technician, said.
Maxey took the drug test on site and her sample was thrown away. RTV6 showed the test to Lisa Wilken, a certified lab technician who did drug testing when she was in the military.
"A rapid test is a qualitative test that tells you if the substance is possibly present or not," Wilken said.
But, Wilken said an additional confirmatory test sent to a laboratory should be done for any positive results found in a rapid test.
"It tells you exactly what it is," the lab technician said. "The confirmatory test is basically the gold standard the best practices when drug testing."
Wilken reached out after our initial story about Maxey. Wilken also works as a veteran advocate and received emails of concern from the veteran community.
"It generated some fear within the community that’s been able to find relief from using CBD oil," Wilken said.
They were concerned CBD could cost them their jobs.
"If it came down to that I had to quit using it because of my employment that might be a real problem,"
John Goings stated using CBD as soon as it became legal in Indiana. Goings helps veterans who are struggling to find work.
"I was a two hour sleep, up two hours, down two hours - all night long for 20 years," Goings said. "Now I get like five to six hours of sleep every night."
He's a veteran who served in desert storm. Now he helps veterans who are struggling to find work, some of them also take CBD.
"We do have some veterans come through that have some pretty significant PTSD and it does really help diminish some of that."
He sends some of those veterans to temp agencies and has concerns about drug tests that only show a drug's presence, but nothing about it got there.
"I hate to see a veteran get smashed over a yes or no test," said Goings. "I hope this employer will take a look at their practices and look at a way to do it better."
The representative from Eclipse Staffing says applicants can pay for their own confirmation testing if they test positive and they can reapply in 30 days.
"If you choose to use your own money to clear your name that we have sullied then we might give you a second chance – I don’t believe that’s a fair way of doing business," Goings said.
The Eclipse Staffing representative says additional laboratory testing is too expensive.
