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How Long Does It Take For Cannabis to Leave Your Body?

Do you know how long weed stays in your saliva? Check out just how long it takes for cannabis to leave your body.

By Ami RoachPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
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You know what's the worst? When you get a call to schedule a job interview literally as you're hitting a joint with your friends. You try to act cool and avoid throwing a coughing fit from how hard you inhaled. But wait, the interview is way sooner than you expected and you've been smoking left to right these past few days. You've got to find the best ways to get weed out of your system. And that's when you start doing some heavy research.

Did you know that cannabis stays in your system for a pretty long time? You'd think that just smoking it once wouldn't cause it to stay in your body for a while, but it does! And we should definitely acknowledge this when we're going to get drug tested soon. If you don't want cannabis showing up in your drug test, then you should be wise about smoking a joint. But when I'm talking about weed staying in your system, cannabis can actually linger in your hair, urine, blood, and even your saliva! That's why drug tests take urine samples, blood samples, etc. to detect if there's any form of THC in your system.

But just how long does cannabis stay in your system? Believe it or not, weed stays at a certain length of time in certain parts of your body. And if you're worried about cannabis showing up on your drug test, what should you do to cleanse it out before it's time for the test? See just how long it takes for cannabis to leave your body as well as methods to quicken the process.

Yes, traces of cannabis can come from just your saliva, too. But just how long does weed linger in your mouth? Well, THC actually lasts a short amount of time in your saliva. This is usually the testing method that’s used by police officers when checking for intoxicated drivers. The THC metabolites can show up in your saliva just after one hour of smoking the drug. And it can remain positive in saliva for up to 24 hours after just a single smoking session. For regular consumers, it can go up to 72 hours after smoking.

It’s recommended that heavy consumers wait about one week before taking the saliva test. Frequent users can last up to 72 hours for cannabis to leave your body while heavy users can last up to one week. A great, effective way to remove traces of cannabis from your saliva is using this Detox Mouthwash by Stinger. It can clean and rinse out your mouth of any form of toxins.

How long does weed stay in your urine?

When it comes to a test for THC, a simple urine test is the most common way to test for cannabis. Plus, urine testing is the cheapest method and has a long detection period. Similar to other tests, urine tests don’t test for the THC itself, but the THC metabolite called THC-COOH. So, the presence of the metabolite shows that the body has recently processed the chemical.

How long weed stays in your urine depends on how often you consume the drug. The THC is actually stored in the body’s fat and accumulates in the body through time. But overall, it doesn’t really matter how exactly you consume it, through smoking or eating it, it’s still in your urine. For a single use, it can stay in your urine for up to eight days. Frequent is 15 days, regular use is 30, and heavy use of weed is about 45 to 77 days. So if you’re a regular user, the chances of THC being in your urine can last up to a month after stopping.

How long does weed stay in your hair?

There are actually a lot of myths and misconceptions that revolve around hair drug tests. There’s evidence that weed can actually stay in your hair much longer than any other system in your body. And believe it or not, hair follicle tests can easily reveal marijuana use up to years prior. However, as for common testing procedures, hair follicle tests are most likely searching for cannabis use back 90 days.

Hair follicle tests actually take the hair from the root to 1.5 inches of hair. Then they discard the rest of the hair. Since human hair usually grows about 0.5 inches a month, 1.5 inches of hair is about three months of hair growth. This means that if you took a foot-long hair, you can detect the weed use back two years. So, yes, weed lingers in your hair for a pretty long time. Yet, it doesn’t show up for one time or occasional users. Hair tests can reveal heavy weed users, instead. So, if you’re a regular user of cannabis, when the THC makes its way to your hair follicles and in the hair strands, it’s there forever. Or you can just shave all of your hair off for cannabis to leave your body!

How long does weed stay in your blood?

In actuality, cannabis in your blood shows remnants of the drug for a shorter amount of time than the rest. You wouldn’t think so, but it’s true. THC actually has to make its way into your bloodstream in order to take effect. When you smoke, it occurs in your lungs. When you ingest marijuana, it happens in your stomach. Overall, your bloodstream is where weed makes its way to your brain and gives you a high sensation, or therapeutic effects in the case of CBD.

Your body is designed to break down those active cannabinoids in your bloodstream and this is mainly why signs of cannabis in your blood don’t last long. This is also a reason why companies and law enforcement will do blood tests after workplace or traffic accidents because it can reveal that the person was intoxicated. As for how long it can take cannabis to leave your bloodstream after a single use, it can be one to two days. If you’re a heavy smoker, the weed can stay in your blood for up to a week.

How long does weed stay in your system?

Overall, just how long does it take for cannabis to leave your body? The short-lived effects of marijuana doesn’t stop evidence of the drug from staying in your system. However, this doesn’t mean that you’re high until those chemicals are out of your body. Yet, it does mean your chances of failing a drug test are pretty high.

So, when it comes to your saliva and blood, where THC is active, the weed can stay in your system for a week. However, for urine, the cannabis can linger in your system for a lot longer. And as for hair… forever! Unless you buzz it off. But it all depends on how much weed you consume.

If you've been consuming cannabis and have about seven days before your drug test, it’s time you put down the joint and focus on detoxing and cleansing your body. Don't you want to be prepared for the drug test and come out positive? This will actually speed up the process of getting rid of any THC traces from your body.

One of the best marijuana cleanses is by Herbal Clean. This gentle detox kit takes a whole seven days to completely clean out your body. It’s formulated to work through natural herbs/supplements, the right nutrition, and moderate exercise. Through the step-by-step guide, you can easily purify your system again. The Premium Detox features Morning Solution, Evening Solution, Jump Start, and Healthy Lifestyle Management Plan.

Lastly, if your drug test is coming up pretty soon, then you should completely stop your use of marijuana. There are actually ways you can drain your body in an instant and come out positive on your drug test. And one of the methods is by using detox drinks for the cannabis to leave your body and flush your system even on that same day, keeping you clean for a period of four to six hours.

Rescue's detox drinks, among the best detoxes to pass a drug test, are designed to completely flush out your system and make you prepared to take your drug test. These drinks are loaded with herbal supplements and B vitamins, which are very helpful in getting rid of THC in your system.

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About the Creator

Ami Roach

Jewish Barnard graduate, surprise surprise.

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