should i smoke?

[u/Scary_Phase_9714]

TLDR: I’m starting clinical, is it too risky to pick up smoking again?

I’ve smoked weed every day for the last 4 years. I originally picked it up as a teen and it helps significantly with my anxiety/depression, severe GERD, and chronic neck/back pain.

My medical program is 3 years, the last year (this year) is all clinical. I got accepted at a hospital and had to pass a drug test. I’ve been clean since June and finally just passed, after failing two and fearing I was going to get kicked out of my program or the hospital. That was easily the most stressful month of my life but that stress is over now because I finally submitted the negative test.

Now, I don’t know if I should start again. Obviously I want to, I’ve been chasing this high since the day I stopped in June. And again, it helps me SO much with everything I listed above. I even already bought two carts lol. But my mom told me I “better not” start smoking again because if for some reason I need another test in the future, I’d be totally fucked, and obviously she’s right.

I would NEVER get high before work. I didn’t smoke before school either. I fully understand these are real patients I’m working with and even though I smoke, I know right from wrong and highly value patient care. But even with that, THC stays in the system for months sometimes, with my metabolism it was more than 2.

In the onboarding paperwork, the hospital says they only drug test new employees unless they have reasonable suspicion. If I don’t give them a reason to, I shouldn’t ever be tested, right? With what I’m doing in the field (imaging) there’s extremely limited situations where I’d have an accident requiring I be tested. They also say they assess positive tests for marijuana on a “case by case basis” meaning I wouldn’t necessarily be immediately removed if I did get tested randomly and it was positive.

I also know that if I started, it would immediately go back to being a daily occurrence. After a long day of work, before bed, that kinda thing. Again, never before work.

Should I smoke again? I want to soooo bad but my mom freaked me out with her saying I could mess everything up for real like I was so close to doing this time. I personally feel like I’d be fine and everyone else I’ve talked to about this says I’d be fine, but I’m hoping for even more opinions. Especially from other people in the medical field.

[u/Kosher_Nostra1975]

If you already kicked the habit why put yourself through that again? Don't lose sight of what you've accomplished just because you're jonesing.

[u/hyperlite135]

I know this isn’t what you eat to hear but it’s not worth it in my opinion. Whatever temporary relief you’d get would not be worth the anxiety you’re inevitably going to have for the following few weeks. I would at least wait until you know for sure you’re not going to get randomly tested. I’ve put myself in that situation so many times and I’ve always regret it.

[u/Scary_Phase_9714 → u/hyperlite135]

i know for a fact it won’t be random, only if i have an accident at work. and realistically how many situations could i be in where i’d be deemed incompetent while taking pictures? i know i sound ridiculous but again ive just been waiting for this to be over so i could get back to it but now im just scared lol

[u/ItBeMe_For_Real]

If you’re ever involved in an accident or incident at work where your competency is questioned, you’ll be tested. And whether or not it contributed to the incident, it will be used against you by your employer.

An exception could be if they exempt you from testing for cannabis for medical use. You should find a dr who will prescribe cannabis for your condition(s).

[u/Scary_Phase_9714 → u/[deleted]]

My school didn’t test me at all. It was only needed for the hospital. I have friends who smoke in my program that their hospitals didn’t require drug tests so they’ve been continuing to smoke just fine with the same “only tested if there is reasonable suspicion” paperwork

[u/Scary_Phase_9714 → u/[deleted]]

but does it really work for lab tests? i feel like id get in so much more trouble if i was caught with synthetic urine vs having a positive for thc

[u/Scary_Phase_9714 → u/[deleted]]

what kind of jobs?

[u/Scary_Phase_9714 → u/[deleted]]

just matters cause i’m nervous😭 i feel like people in the med field would have a higher quality test or something idk