How Long Does THC Stay in Your System? A Detailed Guide – Scubby

Marijuana is a plant species that contains hundreds of beneficial cannabinoids. But two of the most prominent and popular include CBD and THC. If you’re thinking about using marijuana for medicinal purposes, CBD and THC play a major role in what this plant can do for your health. 

But when it comes to marijuana for medicinal use, it’s super important to understand the effects of these two compounds, and, not-to-mention, the legality. Cannabis — a species of marijuana has a higher concentration of THC. While, hemp, another species of marijuana has a higher concentration of CBD. 

Why does any of this matter? Because of drug testing. While CBD is legally accepted for medicinal use across the U.S., higher levels of THC are not. So, how long does THC stay in your system then? This blog breaks it down for you. 

What Exactly Is THC?

Despite the fact that THC is generally considered an illegal compound, it has a plethora of benefits. More scientifically known as delta-9–tetrahydrocannabinol, THC is the psychoactive compound of marijuana. In other words, it’s what makes you feel ”high”. 

Some of the common side-effects of THC include cognitive impairment, memory lapse, delusions, hallucinations, altered perception, and mood swings. However, this depends on the amount of THC you consume. 

When it comes to medicinal marijuana and CBD products that contain THC, it’s beneficial for a myriad of qualifying conditions. Just some of these include Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, the treatment of glaucoma, acute pain management, insomnia, and more. 

In order to consume THC on a legal, federal level, your CBD product must not contain more than 0.3 percent THC. If it does, the product may not be considered legal.  

This being said, some people choose to consume THC at a higher dose or level in order to better manage their conditions. For this reason, it’s important to know the effects of THC and how long it lingers in your system for the purpose of drug testing.

Drug testing is often an important part of employee management for most businesses. So, if you’re interested in trying out THC for a particular condition, but don’t want to get into legal trouble with drug testing, here’s the important info you should know…

 How Long Does THC Stay In Your System? 

The truth is, there is no definitive answer to this exact question. Most of the time, it comes down to various factors. But an important variable that can affect your results is the method of testing. 

Here are some of the most common methods, and rough estimates include: 

  1. The Saliva Test

This is a less common form of drug testing and is performed with an oral swab. This is because an oral swab yields the shortest-lived results. If you undergo a saliva test, THC is detected in your system for 24-hours — but only if you’re an infrequent user. 

If you take THC on a daily basis, it’s detectable for up to 72 hours.  

  1. The Urine Test

This is usually the most popular form of drug testing — especially within a business setting. The reason for this is that the test yields far more accurate and longer-lasting results. 

For example, if you only use a THC product once a month, it’s detectable for up to 8 days in your urine. If you use THC multiple times a month, such as twice a week, it’s detectable for up to 15 days. If you consume THC frequently, such as multiple times a week, it will remain in your urine for as long as 30 days. 

  1. Hair Test

This is a popular method among chronic marijuana users (based on recreational purposes). If you consume THC on an infrequent basis, it’s hardly detectable with this method. 

But if you consume THC on a daily basis, and have done so for years, it’s detectable for up to 90 days with a hair test. 

How Does THC Pass Through Your System? 

For this point, let’s look at urine.

Delta-9 THC is the compound that delivers psychoactive effects. But what’s confusing about drug testing for this compound is that it doesn’t actually end up in your urine at all. So, how is it detected then?

It’s quite simple — the drug test is designed to specifically detect what your body metabolizes, instead. So, if you’ve consumed THC, the test picks up metabolites of THC. For the purpose of drug testing, this metabolite comes up as THCCOOH. 

Scientists also call this metabolite, carboxy. When THC passes through your body into your urine, it’s metabolized with uronic and glucuronic acid, to form the metabolite THCCOOH. It’s actually your metabolism that is responsible for processing THC, while the metabolites are then excreted in the urine or feces. 

Important Variables That Affect THC Detection

The overall premise of a marijuana drug test is to detect whether there is evidence that your body is still processing any by-products of THC, once it’s been metabolized.

Drug tests are not accurate enough to pinpoint when you last consumed THC — that’s not what they’re designed for. They only want to detect whether your body is still working through the process of eliminating THCCOOH metabolites. 

This is the reason why it’s difficult to offer an exact answer on how long THC lingers in your system. Everyone’s metabolism is different, and this process is complex, too. But here are a few other factors that could affect test results: 

  1. Your THC Dose 

This is quite a simple concept. Your body only processes and eliminates a certain percentage of the THC you consume. Meaning that not all the THC you consume will end up in your urine. However, this doesn’t mean you can consume high amounts of THC and those amounts are undetectable. 

The higher your THC dose (how much you consume), the greater the amount in your urine. Or, the more potent your dose (a stronger strain of THC), the more will show up in your urine. 

  1. Your Consumption Habits 

The more habitual you are with taking THC, the more vulnerable you become to longer detection times. But when you only use THC on an occasional basis, it’s not as detectable in the urine for as long.

For instance, if you use THC once, as a first-time user, your body can process the THC in as little as 5-8 days. However, if you consume THC a few times a week, this process will take almost 2 weeks. If you consume THC more than once a day, the same process takes between 30-60 days.  

In summary, the higher your dose of THC and the longer the duration of use, the more time your body needs to eliminate it from your system. 

  1. How the Body Processes Urine 

With the two above-mentioned factors in mind, you may be wondering how long THC takes to leave your urine completely. In short, it takes as long as your body needs to process and metabolize THC, i.e. turn it into THCCOOH, then expel it as waste. 

Now, you don’t have to have completely ”clean” urine in order to pass a drug test. Your body only needs to process and excrete enough THC so that you are below a certain level, in order to pass a drug test. The most important factor here is time. 

There is no exact way to speed up the process in which your body metabolizes the things you consume, including THC. But there are certain factors that may play a role — although the science is not exact on this. All-in-all, you have to let your body do its thing. 

Each person’s metabolism is unique and there are factors that affect the processing time. As mentioned, they include dose, and user habits, as well as your own body weight, body fat index, diet, and level of exercise. 

Certain Factors That Decrease THC Detection Time 

There is no exact science on how to eliminate THC faster from your body. But there are some factors that could make a difference such as: 

  1. Your Diet

Your body is extremely intelligent and knows exactly what it needs in order to aid in its metabolic process. There are certain foods that you should avoid when it comes to detoxing. This includes foods that are high in fat, i.e. junk food, and red meats. Why? Because they increase water retention, which slows down your metabolism. 

This is the exact opposite of what you want your body to do in order to shed its THC metabolites. If you really want to help it along, it’s best to stick to a healthy, well-balanced diet packed full of fruit, vegetables, lean meat, and whole grains.

  1. Your Level of Exercise 

Okay, so this is scientifically proven — exercise has a very clear-cut effect on your metabolism. This is because the more you use your muscles, the more energy your body needs. As a result, this increases your metabolism as your body uses up its energy stores.

In essence, your body learns to burn more energy at a faster rate, the more frequently you exercise. 

This is another reason why your appetite may double on a day that you workout, but remain unchanged on the days that you don’t. Your body is burning more fuel and therefore needs more fuel.

When it comes to THC levels in your body, a person that is on the smaller side, with lower levels of fat, and a greater amount of muscle may process THC faster. This is because their metabolism works at a faster rate. 

When a person is less active and has a greater amount of fat stores, this equates to a slower metabolism. The reality is that this person’s body may take longer to process and metabolize THC. However, this is also dependant on THC dose and usage. 

THC Detoxing Tips 

If you are due to undergo a drug test in the next week or so, there are few detoxification tips you can try to help your body with its metabolic process.

While there are a number of detox kits on the market today, there isn’t much research to prove their efficacy. So, if you want to try out these detox kits, it’s wise to do so at your own discretion. Otherwise, here are some proven tips:

  1. Increase Your Hydration 

One of the best things you can do for your body to help it in the detoxification process is to stay hydrated. You want to increase your consumption of all water-based drinks. Incorporating tea is a great idea — especially tea that high in anti-oxidants. Some of these include dandelion, milk thistle, and red bush tea. 

You can also create your own detox smoothies or drinks with refreshing ingredients that are packed with vitamins. This includes lemon, mint, berries, and watermelon. 

  1. Up Your Greens 

There are a few greens that can do wonders for your metabolism and can even help to speed things up. These foods are high in iron and essential vitamins and include spinach, kale, and other dark, leafy greens. 

Another important factor to aid in digestion and detox, is fiber. You want to incorporate healthy fibers such as legumes, whole wheat grains, beans, and nuts into your diet. 

  1. Avoid Detox Scams 

While on the topic of detoxing, there are plenty of quick fixes on the market today. Many of them are marketed as detox systems, but much of the time it’s all hot air. In other words, they are not detoxifying at all.

Be sure to avoid detox scams that include cranberry juice, pre-made ”detox teas”, vinegar, the niacin detox, and the bleach detox (you should never consume bleach for any reason, whatsoever!). 

Looking to Get Clean? 

So, how long does THC stay in your system? This depends on a number of factors and is very personal to your metabolism, user habits, dosage, and more. If you want to pass a drug test, it’s best to prepare for it ahead of time, as there are no quick-fixes in ridding your body of THC metabolites! 

If you’re looking to get clean and taper down your THC usage — even if it’s been for medicinal use, check out the rest of this site for more. We offer plenty of informative articles to help you along the way. 

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