How long does cannabis stay in your system has been one of the popular questions lately. Let me start by giving you a brief about what it is and proceeding further we will see the types of testing and the cannabis metabolism.
What Is Cannabis?
Cannabis, also known as weed or marijuana is a drug that is extracted from the three Indian plants Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. Cannabis includes two components each with its unique properties.
- CBD – Cannabidiol or CBD helps to ease the feeling of anxiety, nausea and sometimes seizures as well. According to the FDA, the only medicine that contains CBD and is approved by FDA i.e. Food and Drug Administration, is Epidiolex. It is still being researched if CBD is fit for medical use or not.
- THC – Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC is the most effective and psychoactive component in cannabis. This could get you all “High”. This is the main reason Cannabis is banned in most places.
Cannabis is very harmful and can have many short term effects like dizziness, sleepiness which are less dangerous, and long term effects like brain damage and respiratory problems which are very dangerous.
How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Your Body?
Other than the amount of the drug consumed, several other factors decide the amount of time marijuana stays in our system.
Also, it depends on the type of test that you will be taking. Different parts of our body react differently to the effect of marijuana. So let us first begin with the factors and then go to the tests.
Factors That Affect The Amount of Time Marijuana Stays In Your System
Many factors affect the time of the drug staying in our body like metabolism, amount of the drug consumed, body fat etc. Let’s see them one by one.
- Percentage of the body fat: The THC that is present in Cannabis is fat-soluble. It is possible that if you have more body fat, you can have the potential to store the THC for a longer time. Body Mass Index (BMI) can be the method to test the body fat percentage. So the bottom line, the person with more body fat metabolises the drug slower than the person with less body fat.
- Sex: It is said that females have less body fat than males. So naturally, they can metabolize faster than men. Again, females with more body fat can have more negative effects than those females with less body fat.
- Regular exercise: Exercise has been the key to many problems. You can solve anything in less time with exercise. It boosts your energy and can help you metabolize faster.
- Type of the drug and how much of it did you consume.: This is self-explanatory. The amount of the drug intake is directly proportional to its effects. The more you consume the more you get affected and the more time you take to metabolize it. And if you consume more of it then it is obvious that you will take more time.
What Can You Do To Metabolize It Faster?
Although there isn’t much we can do to metabolize the weed faster, the least we could do is try. And to try , we need to work hard. Once the weed enters your body, it doesn’t affect you immediately. It needs time to get into our system and start affecting.
Meanwhile, we can try exercising, eating healthy food and being hydrated by drinking lots of water and also urinating. These may not completely reduce the effect of the weed but will take more time to affect. Also, there are several medicines, programs, rehabilitation centres etc which you could follow.
How Long It Takes For Marijuana To Spoil: Based on Last Use
The number of times you have consumed the drug can affect how long it will take to detect. According to the study, it is said that if you have consumed marijuana only once, then it takes 7 to 8 days to detect it after the last usage. If you have consumed it 2 to 4 times in a month then it takes 15 to 18 days to detect.
Likewise, if you consume it 2 to 4 times a week it takes 25 to 35 days and if you have consumed it 5 to 6 times a week then it takes up to 50 days to detect it and if you consume it daily it could be detected for 70 days. This is a cause of concern. If you are at this stage it is pretty much critical. Please take the necessary precautions as soon as possible.
Tests That Could Be Taken To Detect Marijuana
There are usually two main types under which the other tests fall.
- Qualitative: This type of test tells you if the substance is present or not. Such as the test that’s done roadside by testing the saliva. Research says that it is 97% accurate. It can detect marijuana up to 24 hours from consumption. This is not that expensive and also not time-consuming.
- Quantitative: This test tells us the amount or the quantity of the substance that’s inside. These types of tests are very expensive and time-consuming. There are many different tests in quantitative testing.
- Blood test: According to an article, marijuana can be detected in blood for 1 to 2 days, to be precise, up to 36 hours. Even a minute particle can be detected in this test. Weed can be detected in the bloodstream even after seconds of its consumption. The blood test can be done in the laboratories. There have been some cases when it was detected even after 6 days.
- Urine test: This is the most common method of testing marijuana. The detection of marijuana in urine depends on the intake of marijuana. If a person is an occasional user, then it could be detected up to 3 days from consumption. In moderate users, like four times a week, then it could be detected for 7 days. Heavy users can be detected for up to more than 30 days. This is a very expensive method of testing.
- Hair test: This is the best test out of all the tests. Marijuana can be detected for the longest time as compared to the other tests. The weed reaches the hair follicles through the small blood vessels, which makes it easy to detect. In this test, it is proven that cannabis can stay in your body for up to 3 months or 90 days. But also there are many contamination factors in this test which is why it is not that preferred most of the time. These are considered false positives because even a person who comes in contact with the person who consumes weed could be detected with marijuana.
Conclusion
There is no accurate way to prove the time taken to affect. No study has accurately proven the number of days Cannabis can stay in our bodies. But it is quite clear to some extent that, for almost everyone, the content of marijuana disappears in 30 days or at least, only the minimum quantity remains.
Marijuana has a lot of side effects and could destroy you. The best suggestion would be avoiding it and staying sober. There are many rehabilitation centres and medicines you could follow to stay sober and healthy.