There are a few reasons that this question is so often asked. Why we are asking isn’t really important though, the main thing is that the answer can be a little tricky. When we think about how long anything stays in your body there are a variety of factors. It entirely depends on the person, how the weed has been ingested, which part of the body we are testing for residue, and the list only goes on. So today we are going to have a really good look into how long weed stays in the body from a variety of angles. Hopefully we can try to clear up a few myths at the same time.
How often do you smoke?
Like anything else cannabis can build up over time, in the body that is. So how often and how much you smoke will have an effect on how long the weed stays in your system. If you are a frequent smoker you may end up with cannabis in your system a month after stopping smoking. If you are new to smoking and have just had a teensy puff it may be gone by the next day. This is why the question in general is so complicated. If you smoke a lot there could be traces of cannabis in your hair for months after the last smoke. Heck, the longest detection currently on record is 90 days! So even though I can’t give you an exact estimate based purely on the frequency of your getting stoned, it’s safe to say that the more often you do it the longer it will be in your system.
Your Body
Depending on your levels of body fat, your metabolism, your tolerance and a bunch of other nonsense you will process cannabis faster or slower. Isn’t it fun that there are so many variables? Those of us with higher body fat may metabolise cannabis more slowly than super skinny people. This is based purely on the fact that our bodies process things at different rates depending on our weight, diet, fitness and overall metabolism. Some people suggest using your BMI to figure out roughly how long it will take you to process cannabis. I suggest not ever using your BMI for anything because it is complete and utter nonsense that has been debunked several times so probably ignore it. Your gender also alters how quickly you metabolise things, so if you are female you may keep cannabis in your body for longer. You may also show higher amounts of THC if you are severely dehydrated.
Generalised Detection Windows
I know all of the info I’ve given you thus far has been a little frustratingly vague. However, I can provide you with general detection windows created through a number of scientific studies. It is generally believed that a first time smoker will only retain detectable levels of cannabis for about 3 days. If you are a casual smoker, say a few times a week, then this window goes up to roughly 5 – 7 days. However, as I mentioned earlier, if you are a regular smoker and light up at least once a day you could easily have detectable levels for a month or longer. If we are talking about tests designed to find cannabis in your body we also need to look at the type of test being used to estimate a time frame.
Tests
Blood: If you are being tested through your blood it can usually only be detected for a few days after smoking. This goes up to about 25 days with very regular smokers.
Urine: Urine detection has a pretty similar time frame to the windows we discussed before. According to the Mayo Clinic if you smoke a couple times a week you will have a window of around 2 to 3 days, 4 times a week takes you up to 5 to 7 days, daily smokers around 10 to 15 days and chronic users closer to 30 days. So the urine test may show that cannabis has left the system faster than other tests.
Saliva: Saliva testing is a bit of a nightmare if you want certainty. Basically, if you are tested via your saliva it can register cannabis anywhere between 1 and 29 days for most users. For those who barely use it probably still wont go past 3 days.
Hair: This is usually the test that gives people the fear. The general idea is that cannabis can be found in your hair long after it wouldn’t be found through other means of testing. Hair follicle testing can find cannabis in your system up to 90 days after smoking, and they don’t specify dosage here.
Edibles
This whole time we have been talking about smoking, are the rules different for edibles? Edibles introduce cannabis into your body differently to joints because they are digested. This is why the release is much slower. However, the cannabis will still bind with the fatty cells in your liver and other organs meaning that the detection window is very similar to smoking. So I apologise, eating weed doesn’t make it go through your system faster.
Can I Get It Out Faster?
Now we know the basics, is there a way to get cannabis to move through your system more quickly? There are two basic ways that people use, though their effectiveness has not really been proven. The first is preventative, simply smoke cannabis with lower levels of THC. I know this may not be enormously useful but it will get out of your system faster than super strong weed. The second rests largely on exercise and hydration. If you try to increase your metabolism there is a chance, however small, that it may increase the speed at which cannabis moves through the body. Hydration means you will pee more and the more you pee the faster the cannabis should get out of your body. Again all of these methods are just theories, there is no definite way to get cannabis out of your system faster.
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