CNN — A memo from Gilbert Cisneros, the under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, directed military service leaders to “notify service members to avoid consumption of all poppy seeds to include food products and baked goods containing poppy seeds.”
Cisneros wrote in the memo, released on Tuesday:
“Out of an abundance of caution, I find protecting service members and the integrity of the drug testing program requires a warning to avoid poppy seeds,”
“As more information becomes available, we will revise this policy accordingly.”
The concerns over poppy seeds resulting in positive drug tests are not new, as Cisneros pointed out in his memo.
“Consumption of poppy seed products could cause a codeine positive urinalysis result and undermine the Department’s ability to identify illicit drug use.”
Indeed, a 1998 study said drug screen cut-offs had been questioned because of the positive results “following the ingestion of poppy seed containing food products” … READ MORE.
