so i was watching MTV's Big Urban Myth and they had this segment about whether or not drinking pickle juice will allow you to pass drug tests that check for THC and its metabolites (which by the way, they said was false) and so, since i almost always watch tv with my ibook on my lap, connected to the net via airport (802.11b for you non-macheads), i decided to check on another purported way to pass the drug test: goldenseal. i think it's false, but i couldn't find anything except on sites that sell things that are supposed to help you pass drug tests. (i won't link to them because i am skeptical of herbal medications sold on the internet, and sometimes they have really off-the-wall pseudoscientific information.) my gut instinct is that it's false, but there are no references on pubmed, so who knows. anyway, searching pubmed led me to this citation regarding ajulemic acid, one of the metabolites of THC. this citation also mentions arachidonylglycine. these substances are supposed to have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, but none of the psychotropic effects. apparently, you can buy them for research purposes only at Biomol.

on a related note, apparently nsaids can cause false positives on the THC urine test. but it doesn't matter. i heard from a drug tester that the most reliable test is using hair samples, since THC stays longer there than in the bloodstream.

and, regarding MTV's Big Urban Myth, they also mentioned whether or not you get drunker by drinking through a straw. they said it was false, but my roommate and i think they're wrong. for one thing, ethanol is heavier than water, and so, unless you've mixed them well, the ethanol will sink to the bottom, precisely where the straw will draw up fluid first. for another thing, it think that the decreased intrathoracic pressure when you inhale through the straw does things to your cardiac parameters, making you perhaps feel loopy by primary effect (because of the vagus nerve or some such other), but also by delivering ethanol-imbued blood to your brain with more efficiently.