How long does marijuana stay in your system?

As medical marijuana continues to grow in popularity, more and more consumers are getting curious about how it works within the body. Specifically, a lot of people are asking, “How long does marijuana stay in your system?” As much as we’d love to give you a straightforward numerical answer, just like cannabis, the answer is a bit more complex than that. However, Elevate Holistics here to explain.

So, if you’re interested in knowing how long marijuana stays in your system — as well as how to help get it out — we’ll walk you through all of it.

Cannabis Consumption: How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Your System?

While marijuana’s high or sedative effects fade away fairly quickly after its consumption, its byproducts tend to linger in the body for weeks after its usage. This delay is because cannabis metabolites are fat-soluble. So, when they’re absorbed, they bind to the fat molecules in your body, and this makes it hard for them to just disappear.

Therefore, marijuana can stay in your body for a long time, and the duration may depend on a few factors such as:

• Frequency of usage: Regular consumption of marijuana makes the drug build up in your body as THC often stays in the system of chronic users longer than one time or occasional users.
• Dosage: The higher the dose, the longer the drug remains in your system. Ideally, it will take a more extended period for the body to break down a large quantity of marijuana than smaller amounts.
• Metabolism: If you’re lucky to have higher metabolic functions, your body will break down cannabinoids at a faster rate. This way, the metabolites in your body will be hard to detect after a long time.

Other factors like genetics, age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) can play a part, too.

Marijuana and Different Body Systems

In addition, traces of marijuana can last for various durations in different systems of the body. These durations are not fixed but are only estimates determined from research. Following this, the breakdown for each of these body systems is as follows :

• Blood: weed remains in the bloodstream for about 1-2 days after consumption. However, it’s possible to detect weed in the systems of chronic users even after 25 days.
• Saliva: a test can detect THC in your saliva one hour after using cannabis.  Furthermore, THC metabolites in your saliva can stay for 24 to 72 hours.
• Urine: It is possible to detect marijuana byproducts in your urine four to eight days after usage. Urine tests can even detect marijuana in chronic users fifty to sixty-five days after use.
• Hair tests: THC metabolites remain longer in the hair than any other body system, and most hair tests can show proof of usage 90 days after use.

So, how long does marijuana stay in your system? The truth is, there’s no one standard for determining how long weed stays in anyone’s system. It depends on so many different factors — some biological and some lifestyle-based.

How Long Do Different Types Of Medical Marijuana Stay In Your System?

Apart from the factors above, the types of marijuana you consume can also influence how long the drug remains in your system.

In terms of effects, you’ll find that digestible forms of marijuana tend to linger the longest in the body. Edibles, for example, can provide hours-long highs that keep the cannabinoids present in the body for quite some time. People should only enjoy edibles if you have the day off, as they’ll likely keep you feeling uplifted all day long.

When you smoke flower or vape, your high isn’t going to be nearly as long. However, the cannabinoids may stay within your body for a good amount of time. It will highly depend on the products’ THC or CBD levels, as we’ll explain next.

THC vs. CBD: Does One Stay Longer?

Now that you know how long marijuana stays in the system, let’s talk about the cannabinoids themselves. The cannabinoids in weed – tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) – are what make it useful as a therapeutic option.

Once THC enters your body, it is absorbed into the body, broken down into metabolites, and temporarily stored in organs and fatty tissues. After that, the metabolites stored in the body fat become gradually eliminated from the body through feces and urine. All things considered, THC metabolites can last up to 10-14 days — but this all depends.

On the contrary, CBD would not show up on a drug test, but if your CBD products contain high amounts of THC, it will show up. The cannabidiol compound can stay in your system for 2 to 5 days, but that range doesn’t apply to everyone. Essentially, there isn’t a simple answer for how long CBD stays in your system because it depends on how you take the drug, the dosage, and the frequency of use.

For these reasons, it’s possible to say that the active ingredient THC does stay longer in the system. However, we can’t be too sure of this because since both compounds remain in the body’s fat cells, they can remain detectable for days or weeks in a blood test.

Ways to Clear Your System of Medical Cannabis

If you need to rid your system of cannabis, drinking cranberry juice, vinegar, or large amounts of water will not help you flush out the THC.

Here are some ways to expel cannabis from your system include:

• Natural detox programs: The best and most recommended way to cleanse cannabis from your body is to stop taking the drug and wait for it to leave your body naturally. This method involves proper dieting, hydration, and exercise to rid yourself of the toxins. Although it takes longer, this method is the safest and will flush out the cannabinoids in about 4-6 weeks.
• Exercise: People with higher metabolic functions get rid of cannabis faster. So, a daily dose of cardio and weight training will help burn fat and increase metabolism, thus speeding up the detox process.
• Detox teas: Refreshing beverages like lemon, mint, and watermelon can help to reduce the THC levels in the body because of their diuretic properties. Nevertheless, if your goal is to find a marijuana detox drink for a drug test, remember to weigh the pros and cons before choosing this method.

All of Your Cannabis Consumption Questions Answered

As always, Elevate is here to make sure you’re well informed when it comes to cannabis consumption. It’s always crucial to remember that cannabis is still illegal except in states with legalized MMJ programs. So, if you happen to live in any of the states where cannabis is legal, it would help you get a medical card so you do not end up in trouble. Don’t have one? We know someone who can assist you. (Hint: it’s us.)

Elevate Holistics offers you a convenient platform with doctors who can get you all the guidance required for your medical card and more. Through us, you don’t have to wonder, “How long does marijuana stay in your system?” any longer. Need help with your process or answers to more canna-related questions?  Feel free to contact us.