How long weed stays in your system differs from person to person. Just like any other drug, it is difficult to give a definite answer, but there sure is an approximate duration for each. Your metabolism, level of THC in weed, frequency of use, hydration, are all different reasons that determine the answer. Here, we will help you determine how long does weed stay in your urine, as per your body type.
At an average, your hair can have traces of THC for three months or 90 days. The content stays anywhere from three days to one month in your urine. The exact answer depends on how frequently you use it. The weed stays around 48 hours in your saliva and about 36 hours in your blood. If you smoke weed regularly, the level of dependence and difficulty of withdrawal will show. Quitting is also difficult but if you go through the right treatment, it isn’t impossible.
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What is like to smoke weed?
Marijuana is a type of weed that people extract from plants, dry it, crush it, and smoke it up. It is a form of psychoactive drug extracted from Cannabis Sativa plants. It is illegal in the US as stated by NIDA but people still have access to it.
People smoke weed by making joints or with bongs and pipes. They also make blunts that are like cigars but have the tobacco removed and stuffed with weed instead.
Although mostly used as a drug, weed does have health benefits and is often used in food and beverages. Here, we will mainly focus on how smoking marijuana leaves an impact on our systems.
How does our body react to weed?
THC or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol works like a brain-altering chemical that cannabis has. When someone smokes it, THC pass through their lungs and goes into their bloodstream. It then carries forward to the brain and organs. When it interacts with our endocannabinoid system, it affects our brain. There is an imbalance in coordination, deep sensation, memory failure, and the possibility of judgment.
The effect on the brain from smoking weed lasts for around three hours. People who add them to brownies take around an hour to react, but the impact stays for many hours.
Some common experiences from smoking weed are:
- No sense of time
- Increased appetite
- Imbalance in body
- Bad body coordination
- Mood swings
- Memory failure
- Anxiety
- Paranoia
- Fear
- Delusion
- Hallucination
Know how long does weed stay in your urine?
According to tests, weed takes an average of three days to leave your system through urine. However, it can stay in your body for a month and can be traced later than the first three days. Other drugs that are heavier can stay in your system for many months.
Marijuana detection window depends on the amount of smoke you do or the level of weed you consume. If you take high doses, you will have a longer detection period. The longest span of time cannabis was found is one’s body was over 90 days or three months. Read ahead to know how long does weed stay in your urine, saliva, blood, and hair.
How long is weed detectable by drug testing?
A drug test can measure marijuana and the byproducts also known as metabolites. These remain in our body much after the weed wears off from our brains.
1. Urine test
As reported by the Mayo Clinic, marijuana can be detected in our urine according to how much weed a person takes:
- Someone who takes weed occasionally, say 1-3 times a week, will have weed in their urine for three days
- Moderate smokers who use weed more than 4 times will retain in their urine for seven days
- People who take weed once every day will have it in their system for 10 to 15 days
- Someone who takes weed more than once a day can find the drug in their body for 30 days or more
The metabolites of cannabis are fat-soluble. This means that they bind to our fat molecules. This is also the reasons why it takes more time to leave our body.
2. Blood test
Weed stays in our blood for around 1-2 days. However, if the case is extreme it stays over 25 days. Heavy usage of weed increases the time it takes to be detected.
A test can detect weed in our blood within seconds of smoking. It gets distributed through the tissues. Some of it gets reabsorbed in the blood and gradually broken down. The metabolites can stay for days in the bloodstream. Tests to find out if weed is still in your bloodstream needs to be done in a laboratory setting.
3. Saliva testing
If you consume cannabis through oral fluid, it will stay in your saliva for either 1 to 3 days if you’re an occasion user or 1 to 30 days if you are a heavy user.
Marijuana touches the saliva when you smoke it. But the metabolites stay in the saliva only when you smoke or ingest it. In countries where weed is legal, people can use oral fluid for roadside testing.
4. Hair
It might seem weird but a hair follicle test can show that weed stays in your strands for 90 days or more. After smoking weed, it hits your hair follicles through the tiny blood vessels. But how much weed can be traced in hair can vary.
As our hair grows by around half an inch every month, 1.5 inches of hair from the roots can help you take a drug test. It can also reveal the amount of weed usage in the past 90 days.
How long does week take to metabolize?
As THC goes into our bloodstream, urine, saliva, and hair, it gets temporarily stored in our fatty tissues and organs. Kidneys can reabsorb THC into the blood but it is broken down by our liver.
THC has over 80 metabolites and the most significant ones are 11-OH-THC and THCCOOH. Doctors look for such metabolites in your blood. These stay longer than the main THC but gradually pass out through stool and urine.
What affects how long does weed stay in your urine?
There are many factors that determine how long weed can stay in the system. These factors are age, BMI, gender, and more. It is not just about the drugs but how your body processes it.
When it comes to the weed, the dosage, the frequency, the strength or quality of the weed, are also important factors. The more the doses the more time it takes for you to get rid of the weed from the body.
Can you metabolize weed faster?
You can’t do much about getting weed out of your system. Once it enters your body, it takes time to break down. You need to eat healthy, exercise and drink lots of water to see a drastic change.
There are many detox remedies that can reverse the effect of weed in your body. These are mostly based on fluids as they make you urinate more and get the toxins out. You can also take herbal supplements like vitamin B-12 or creatinine to speed up the process.