How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Your System?

how long does marijuana stay in your system

There are various ways to test for the presence of marijuana in your system, but for how long does marijuana stay in your system? No matter how you use marijuana, from vaping or smoking it, to consuming it in tasty edibles available at your local dispensary, the answer is likely different for everyone.

Just as the immediate effects of using marijuana slightly vary from person to person, so does the way each of our bodies break down the chemical composition of marijuana. While many of the effects of marijuana use are short-lived, some of the chemicals can remain present in your bodily systems for up to several months after your last use.

The length of time it takes for different chemicals, including THC, the psychoactive component found in marijuana, to be broken down and eventually eliminated from the body will also be affected by how often an individual uses marijuana.

So, how long does marijuana stay in your system? Let's find out.

How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Your System?

Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as delta-9-THC, or THC for short, is the primary psychoactive ingredient that gives users the sensation of being 'high.' How you use marijuana will affect how quickly THC enters your bloodstream.

Users who smoke marijuana will find that the high feeling is almost immediate since the THC enters the bloodstream as soon as a user has inhaled.

Consuming cannabis has a slightly more gradual effect. This is because when marijuana is ingested, the THC must first be broken down in the stomach before being absorbed into the bloodstream. Depending on how much you ingest, it will typically take anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 ½ hours before users notice any psychoactive effects.

According to the National Highway Safety Administration, drivers who used marijuana showed performance concerns for up to 3 hours after last using marijuana. This is just one of several ways that marijuana in your system can affect your abilities. Other short-term side effects of using marijuana include delayed reactions, impact on memory and learning, problem-solving, as well as coordination. Most of these short-term effects will recede after just a couple of hours, while some effects can last through the next day.

The chemicals in marijuana go through a process where they are quickly broken down in the body. THC alone is metabolized into more than 80 different molecules called metabolites. Once the body has broken down the chemicals into metabolites, they will be stored throughout your body in fat cells. Then, over time, your body will eliminate them with your body waste.

How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Your System: How Effective are Drug Tests?

If you need to take a blood test, then you probably need to know the answer to the question, how long does marijuana stay in your system? The answer, unfortunately, is completely dependent.

In most cases, marijuana goes directly into the bloodstream, but because our bodies break it down so quickly, blood tests are usually ineffective in determining how often or how much marijuana someone has used.

>> What are the Effects of Marijuana?

Of course, in specific situations, some exceptions do apply, and a blood sample will be taken. For example, if a driver is suspected of being under the influence of marijuana after an accident or at a sobriety checkpoint, law enforcement may take a sample to reflect whether the driver was in fact intoxicated during the interaction.

The most common test used when testing for marijuana in your system is a urine sample. This is because when the body excretes the marijuana metabolites, they leave the body through your urine and feces. A urine test will reflect whether the person being tested has used marijuana recently or not.

Urine samples are not an effective method to determine if someone is impaired or intoxicated from using marijuana, however. Again, because the body needs time to break down the THC and other chemicals into metabolites, it is unlikely that a urine test will prove someone smoked or consumed marijuana earlier in the day. It will, however, provide evidence of ongoing or recent drug use, and for many employers, that would be grounds for termination.

With technology today, testing methods are more refined than ever before. Whether a blood test, urine test, or even testing a sample of hair, there is some room for error. However, it is highly unlikely that a urine test will result in a false positive when testing for marijuana. This is because of the multiple stages that each sample goes through during the testing process. This can also make it difficult to pass a drug screen for marijuana if it is still present in your system.

how long does marijuana stay in your system
How long does marijuana stay in your system?

How Long will Marijuana Stay In Your System and No Longer be Detectable?

How long does marijuana stay in your system? The time between the last use of marijuana and the time at which marijuana is no longer detectable in your system is affected by several variables.

First, how often a person uses marijuana will affect how their body processes and stores the chemicals. Individuals who are heavy users, those who smoke or otherwise consume marijuana multiple times per day, have stated that they have failed drug screenings months after their last use.

On the other hand, individuals who have only used marijuana one time will likely eliminate all signs of the drug within 5-8 days. This is because daily users are constantly introducing THC into their systems, and the body adjusts by storing some of the metabolites in fatty tissue.

There are some ways to speed up the process of eliminating THC from your body. However, there is no proven method of fooling a test for marijuana.

If you are not a heavy user, the presence of marijuana in your system will drastically decline daily. Drinking plenty of water and other fluids is a proven method of removing toxins from the body more quickly. Be sure to drink plenty of electrolytes and other vitamins when 'flushing' your system as well. This will help prevent dehydration from frequent urinating.

Some individuals claim to have cleaned their system in as little as three days, while others have successfully passed drug screening for marijuana within two weeks. This alone will not eliminate THC metabolites from your system completely, but if you have some time before being tested, it can prove to be helpful.

There are also Drug Screening Agents that claim to 'clean' or 'remove' all toxins and traces of marijuana; however, these are not overnight miracle makers. Often, they must be implemented into a daily routine over time. The problem here is that THC naturally breaks down and is removed from the body over time.

If you are really in a bind, you could attempt to tamper with the test. Some people have reported adding something to their urine sample to confuse the test. Again, with technology today either it will not work, and the test will still come back positive, or the lab that screens the sample will be able to detect that there are foreign substances present in the sample. This may also be illegal in many states, regardless of marijuana laws in that state.

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