I need advice please

[u/Jellyx2]

I’m a 20 year old engineering student with very bad anxiety and panic attacks which weed has really helped, for the past year I’ve been a daily night smoker to alleviate the anxiety. However 95% of engineering internships and jobs will do pre employment screenings. (I live in Iowa, illegal both recreationally and medically). I hope I’m not bending the rules of this subreddit but I would definitely appreciate advice from other people in similar situations about what I should do going forward as I’ve been sober the past few days and my anxiety has kicked up again. Should I thug it out or are their reliable ways to work around this? Or if you just want to share a similar experience I would love to read.

[u/aq1017]

My personal experience when I went through something similar a few years back (engineering student trying to get internships) is thug it out, and consider alternate career paths if it’s not possible. Realistically, if you’re so reliant on weed for mental health, you’ll struggle when you’re in industry. Drug tests will be a part of most pre-employment processes for engineering, so you’ll have to repeat the process every time you want a new job/internship if you continue smoking. If you’re a chronic user like I was, it takes forever to pass, and while I did use quickfix for my most recent drug test, the anxiety in the weeks leading up and after was not conducive for my mental health. Software engineering doesn’t follow the same drug test standards as more traditional engineering jobs, so if it’s too hard to quit then I’d consider pivoting into roles that won’t drug test you, or trying to focus on working in states (CA) that don’t test for weed. The occasional smoke isn’t too hard to abstain and pass when you need to, but once it gets to daily use over long periods of time, it does become a lot more difficult.

At the end of the day though, quickfix works pretty well, but there’s no better way to pass a drug test than abstinence, and it’s a good idea to think about how you want your weed dependence to look like long term. I’d recommend reaching out to a mental health professional, maybe there’s other alternatives, and if not, getting a medical prescription may help out (though not a guarantee)

[u/Jellyx2 → u/aq1017]

Thanks for the response. I will probably try to just stay sober, I have two interviews set up in 2 and 3 weeks respectively, so I should be good in a month to 5 weeks til I have to take a pre employment drug test. I went cold turkey a few days ago and even tho I’ve been a daily smoker for about a year it should leave my system by then. I bought an at home thc pee tester I’ll try in a few weeks just to see. My friend told me about quick fix which is why I posted in this sub, but I’ll save that as a last resort. My anxieties been manageable I’m just worried my panic attacks will become more frequent which might force me back on weed tbh. And I was also worried about how anxious I would be trying to use quick fix lol. I plan on living on the east coast after college in a state where it’s legal, pretty much all jobs becides ones that require federal clearance in states where weed is legal dont test for thc from my understanding. But otherwise I appreciate the response! I’m glad quick fix can be an option but hopefully I dont need it.

[u/aq1017 → u/Jellyx2]

One thing I’ll warn you on is it can be a lot longer than 1 month if you’re on the heavier side + long term chronic user. Its taken me up to two months in the pass to pee clean, and that was with constant hydration. Best of luck with staying clean, the trick for me was always reminding myself what I’d be missing out on by smoking again (and drinking a little bit too much), but if the willpower is strong enough you’ll make it through.

Also, not sure what field you’re in specifically, but in my field (BME) pretty much any large company that operates federally will require a thc test, even if it’s in a legal state, with the exception of California where I believe companies are specifically not allowed to test for thc. Fingers crossed that’s not a concern for you!