How Long Does THC Stay in Your Body?

How long does THC stay in your body? This is a question on the mind of many cannabis consumers, not just because of the drug tests police do on the road but also because more workplaces are adopting the practice of drug testing their workers.

THC is the main cannabinoid in cannabis that’s usually found in high concentrations, and it’s also the one that sticks around the longest after consuming it. It’s not entirely known how long THC can stay in the body for, as it depends on who has taken it, how much they’ve taken, how it’s taken and where it’s taken.

There are different kinds of drug tests that are used to see if you have consumed cannabis. We believe that they measure the THC in your body as well as the THC-COOH, a metabolite segregated by the liver when it’s getting rid of THC and it can stick around for quite some time.

The most usual tests are saliva tests, urine tests, and the ever frightening hair test. We’re going to explain how long THC-COOH should turn up for in each test that can be done:

Saliva test:

This is one of the most common tests due to how quick and easy it is to do anywhere at any time. This technique is used on the road by police officers, and it’s slowly being switched out for urine tests which are harder to avoid. The saliva test is used due to how fast and easy it is to use, as well as being one of the most efficient methods. It’s usually used to see if you’ve been smoking recently. The bad thing about this test is that those who are habitual smokers will show more of a positive result than those who aren’t regular smokers.

It can come up positive for up to 24h in regular consumers and 12 hours after for occacional consumers. Cocaine can also last for at least a day and opiates last up to 4, although it’s obviously not the same as having smoked a joint 14 hours ago and driving. More and more products are coming onto the market that are designed for you to consume and then give negative results on a test that would have normally come out positive, like Magnum Mouth Wash.

Urine Test:

The urine test can be extremely tricky if you’re a regular smoker; you can give a positive result up to 5-7 days after consuming if you only smoke occasionally, and for up to 15 days if you’re a regular smoker. There are reported cases of people coming up positive a full 70 days after smoking!

You can use mineral complex products to allow you to pass one of these tests, which is why saliva tests are much more trustworthy for these sorts of things. The issue with this is drinking it before doing the test; why do you think that when you get tested they ask for you to not urinate before taking it? It’s because if you urinate beforehand the next urine sample is more diluted, especially if you drink water. If this is detected the test will be thrown out and you’ll have to do another one. If you use a mineral complex such as Magnum Detox, then your test should come back negative although it all depends on when you take it, how you take it and how long you’ve been consuming for.

Hair Test:

This is the most accurate test, as they can practically tell when the last time you consumed was. This test began in the US, and it’s so exact that there’s practically no way to get around it apart from shaving your head, which could be a bit suspicious. THC sticks around in our hair cells forever until you cut it, unfortunately. Depending at what length the THC content is found at, they can tell if you’ve consumed more or less and roughly when it happened. Its most common usage is to test if drugs have been consumed within the last three months with just 1.5cm of hair. They submerge the hair in liquid and they analyze it to see if there’s any THC-COOH in it. This test is usually done in high ranking positions at companies, athletes and other important jobs, as this test costs much more to do than saliva and urine tests.

Blood Analysis:

This test is usually done after traffic accidents as it’s the most trustworthy test. It accurately detects mg/ml of drugs in the blood stream. You can come up positive in the first 4-5 days for occasional smokers, and regular smokers can still give a positive test result up to 30 days later. There really isn’t any decent way around this, although there are products that work in determined situations like Magnum Instant Flush.

Now you know more or less how long THC lasts in your body, so even though you might not be able to avoid it at least you won’t be surprised!

Author: Javier Chinesta
Translator: Ciara Murphy