5 Reasons Truck Drivers Should Smoke CBD
The life of a truck driver isn’t for the faint of heart. While the open road can be exhilarating, you pay for this privilege with long work days and even longer amounts of time spent away from home.
There are lots of ways to cope with the stress of hauling your rig across the country. Some substances, though, could get you in trouble or even cost you your job. In this list, find out the top five reasons that truck drivers should smoke CBD flower instead.
1. CBD provides non-intoxicating on-the-road relaxation
As a truck driver, you can be behind the wheel for up to 11 hours at a time. While you might want to drive that full 11 hours to make as much money as possible, even driving for a few hours at a time is enough to make most people cry for mercy.
When you drive for a long time, your arm and leg muscles tense up. You need to have at least one hand on the steering wheel at all times, and keeping your arm in an outstretched position causes muscle tension.
Almost all modern semi trucks are equipped with cruise control, but you’ll still need to manually work the gas and brake pedals if you go up and down mountains or drive through adverse weather. As a result, the muscles in your legs can tense up while you drive.
People use CBD to relax for all sorts of reasons, and plenty of truckers have tried CBD to relieve tension during long hauls. CBD-rich hemp contains less than 0.3% THC, so smoking CBD while you push through the extra mile won’t get you high.
2. CBD is often used for aches & pains
People with underlying health conditions experience the pain of driving much more acutely. If you have arthritis, gripping the steering wheel of your rig will start to hurt after only a few hours. If you’re overweight or suffer from diabetes, sitting for extended periods can become profoundly uncomfortable.
People around the country use CBD in the hope that it will help them with common aches and pains, and smoking CBD is one of the fastest ways to experience the benefits of this non-intoxicating cannabinoid. While other CBD ingestion methods take a long time to take effect, you can feel the effects of smoking CBD almost instantly.
If you’re concerned about smoking CBD flower in your cab, you should know that hemp doesn’t leave any lingering odors behind like tobacco. You might want to pull over to smoke your CBD flower anyway, but if you do choose to smoke in your semi, you won’t need to worry about holding your nose later on down the line.
3. Use CBD for sleep at noisy rest stops
Truck drivers are used to spending nights away from home, but it can still be hard to acclimate to the constant noise of sleeping on the side of a highway. Even rest areas that are more off the beaten path are filled with the sounds of cars pulling in and out, often making good sleep hard to come by in the bunk at the back of your cab.
You might be pleased to learn that CBD has been studied for its potential sleep-promoting qualities. It’s still too soon to say whether this cannabinoid can truly help you get to sleep at night, but even a quick look at the anecdotal evidence provided by people who have used CBD for sleep is quite convincing.
The time you set aside to rest while you’re on the road is precious. Whenever you can’t seem to settle down even though you have a long haul ahead of you tomorrow, remember that CBD flower pre-roll you stashed away.
4. Smoking CBD is less messy
Have you ever tried using a CBD tincture while behind the wheel of a semi truck? Somewhere during this complicated process, you might take your eyes off the road just long enough. Even if you don’t harm yourself or anyone else, you could easily spill tincture all over without a shower in sight for miles.
Many other types of CBD products aren’t much better. CBD topicals make everything you touch slippery and leave stains behind. CBD capsules are easier to use on the road than CBD tinctures, but it’s still relatively complicated to swallow pills while you’re supposed to be focused on the road.
Lighting up a CBD flower pre-roll, on the other hand, is just as easy as lighting a cigarette. As long as you use a suitable container for your ash, you won’t get detritus all over your cab, and there’s zero chance of a CBD pre-roll leaving behind stains. Even so, smoking CBD flower remains one of the most potent ways to use this cannabinoid.
5. CBD isn’t included in drug tests
Truck drivers commonly get in trouble for smoking cannabis on the job, so it’s understandable if you’re skeptical about smoking CBD flower as a trucker. By law, though, CBD products must contain less than 0.3% THC, and there are no drug screens in existence that test specifically for the presence of CBD.
It is technically possible to test positive for THC after using CBD products, though. If you frequently use CBD products containing up to 0.3% THC, for instance, THC could accumulate enough over time to cause a false positive. To know how much THC your CBD products contain, only choose products that come with independent, third-party lab tests.
Smoking CBD as a truck driver FAQ
Let’s finish up with some commonly asked questions regarding CBD and trucking:
Can you smoke CBD buds while driving?
As long as your hemp contains less than 0.3% THC, it is not federally illegal to smoke CBD flower before or while driving. CBD is non-intoxicating, so it should not impair your ability to drive.
If smoking CBD while driving is distracting, though, you should pull over to smoke instead. Law enforcement officers may mistake your hemp for illegal forms of cannabis, so smoke discreetly.
Can CBD cause you to fail a DOT drug test?
Yes, ingesting certain types of CBD products could cause you to test positive for THC, one of the 10 drugs the DOT tests for in urinalysis screenings. If the CBD products you’ve used contain trace amounts of THC, this cannabinoid can build up over time even though you never got high. Smoking CBD flower on an occasional basis is very unlikely to cause a false positive for THC, though.
Can I drive with CBD across state lines?
It is generally not a problem to travel with CBD in your car. As a federally legal substance, hemp containing less than 0.3% is generally protected by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Just make sure the state you’re entering has not placed any restrictions on industrial hemp.
Has a truck driver been fired for CBD?
Yes, truck drivers have been fired after using CBD. They were fired for the THC in their urine, however, not the CBD. The DOT doesn’t have a problem with CBD, and most trucking companies don’t care either. Using full-spectrum CBD on a regular basis, however, can make you test positive for THC.
How long is CBD detectable in urine?
CBD usually remains detectable in urine for 3-30 days. The more frequently and heavily you use CBD, the longer it stays in your system.
If you’ve only used CBD once or twice, expect all cannabinoids to flush out of your system within a few days. Habitual CBD users, though, may need to wait a full 30 days before their bodies become completely cannabinoid-free.
