CBD is legal, but a test showed illegal THC.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — A Georgia police chief lost his job after testing positive for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. But the chief says he only used perfectly-legal CBD oil.
It raises questions about how to handle drug tests in an age when CBD use is spreading rapidly.
In his 30 years in law enforcement, records indicate Thomas Barnes underwent more than 150 random drug screenings and passed all of them – until September 2020. That’s when the Columbus Technical College police chief tested positive for marijuana in a random drug test.
“He denied ever using marijuana or THC in any form. Except for the CBD,” said Chris Harvey, deputy director of POST, the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council.
Records show the former metro Columbus drug task force officer had admitted to using legal CBD oil the night before his drug test – to relieve pain in his arthritic shoulder. In a sworn affidavit and during a polygraph exam, Barnes said he’d never used marijuana in his life.
The Technical College System of Georgia fired Barnes anyway. But POST declined to pull his certification.
“A positive THC test is very…
