It has been determined that consumption of poppy seeds may cause a positive drug test which may result in disciplinary action. The Federal Bureau of Prison’s Form BP-S291(52) contains, as one of the conditions a furloughed inmate must agree to: The prohibition removes that possibility.)
(Without the poppy seed prohibition, anyone using opium derivatives recreationally could attribute his positive drug test results to a fondness for these seeds. Moreover, inmates on furlough are enjoined from eating baked goods that incorporate poppy seeds because of the effect it has on their drug tests. In 1997, a woman in Florida was awarded $859,000 in her lawsuit against Bankers Insurance Group because it had withdrawn a lucrative job offer to her on the basis of her poppy seed-influenced drug screen results.īecause of the possibility of poppy seeds’ skewing drug test results, federal prison rules prohibit inmates from eating this ingestible.
In that case, the woman’s fondness for lean corned beef and provolone on a poppy seed bagel cost her the job she wanted, because this prospective employer would not allow her a second urinalysis nor believe that her morning nosh had caused those suspicious test results. In 1994, a Baltimore woman lost her chance for a job with an inner-city community health center because of her failed drug test, which was once again the result of the nefarious poppy seeds. His case was subjected to further examination, and he was reinstated seven months later. In 1999, a New Jersey prison guard was fired for the same reason: a poppy seed bagel he’d had produced a positive drug test. He, too, tested positive for morphine, confirming the poppy seed effect theory. The department performed an experiment by having another officer eat four poppy seed bagels and take a drug test. His case was especially puzzling to the department because the officer in question had a steady work record and demonstrated no indications of any problems before this incident was flagged during a random drug screen.
He was reinstated with back pay after it was determined that poppy seeds and not drug use had produced those results. Louis police officer was suspended for four months because his drug test showed positive for morphine after he’d eaten four poppy seed bagels the day before the urine sample was taken. As little as a single bagel covered with poppy seeds could produce a false positive test for these drugs. Opiates (morphine and codeine) can be detected in urine for at least 48 hours after one eats food containing poppy seeds. Indeed, something as innocuous as the poppy seeds on a bagel or muffin or in a slice of cake can make the drug-free look like heroin users. Drug testing has become more and more prevalent in our society, and while urine and blood analysis are the most common methods employed to that end, the tests themselves are not infallible and can sometimes produce skewed results.