How Long Does THC Stay In Blood?

Nikhil Goswami

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the most known psychoactive in marijuana, also known as the cannabis sativa plant. And because of its quick psychoactive effects, it is becoming increasingly popular. When you ingest weed, the body metabolizes THC and moves it to your brain through your bloodstream. THC then combines with the brain receptors to produce the high pleasant feeling you experience afterward.  To make it more clear, you can have a look at the THC detox plan

Consequently, regular cannabis users frequently ask “How long will THC stay in your system?” or “Will you test positive on a drug test after you smoke marijuana?” All these are valid worries especially if you play professional sports or if your job performs frequent urine drug tests. Y No matter the reason, it’s good to know how long weed will stay in your system.

What Is A Blood Drug Test?

People immediately think they’ll test positive when they hear of a blood test. The blood part makes them believe the test can detect marijuana more than other methods. However, does weed really come up in a drug test? Well, for starters, the blood drug test is unfrequented; it is only used when other types of tests are not an option.

With that said, this test is more efficient than other methods because of how drugs tend to be absorbed into the blood almost immediately. You can also find how to pass a drug test for weed on the internet.

Still, despite their effectiveness and accuracy, blood tests are less used since blood has to be drawn by a medical professional. And in some instances, like a police-requested drug test, this option may be unavailable.

Therefore, blood tests are usually reserved for situations in which a person is suspected of being under the influence of hard drugs.

How Does Blood Testing Work?

A blood test involves drawing blood from the individual’s vein. The blood then gets analyzed in a laboratory right after the sample is taken from the subject. Depending on whether the person has any type of drug in their veins, like THC for example, they will pass or fail the test at the end. Here are some examples of some drugs that can be detected:

  • Cocaine
  • LSD
  • PCP
  • Methamphetamine

facts about thc

How Long Does THC Stay In Blood?

Some experts agree that from the very moment you consume cannabidiol, it lasts up to 36 hours in your blood. This is because THC is highly soluble in water, a significant component in blood.

Metabolites can last different periods in the body, depending on the organ where it is hosted or attached depending on the case. And while THC can stay in the bloodstream for 36 hours, it may be retained in the saliva for an even longer 48 hours. Additionally, marijuana’s metabolites can be found in the urine even a month after use. However, testers have been shown to detect drug use from hair follicles even after three months.

Another reason why THC can last this long in the human body is that THC is composed of more than 80 metabolites which takes a lot of time to be synthesized. Moreover, it is well known that the fatty tissue is an excellent place for the THC to find a place to sit in while it gets metabolized.

Factors That Determine How Long THC Will Stay In Your System

Body functions and reactions to substances are unique to each individual. That being said, it is essential to know that each person’s cannabis retention depends on various factors.

It is important to realize that THC is a soluble component, which is the reason it is so quickly absorbed by your body. This factor increases even more if your cannabis consumption levels are that of frequent smokers or heavy user.

The following are a few facts that may affect how long THC stays in your blood:

  • The percentage of fatty tissues in your body
  • How much cannabis do you tend to use?
  • Do you exercise? How often?
  • The THC dose you take from your cannabis consumption
  • The time between the test and the last time you used marijuana
  • Use of other drugs
  • The hydration levels in your body

Some of these factors are determined only by your drug use; marijuana components and their effects will remain longer in your system if you use it frequently. Depending on the consumption levels, cannabidiol in the blood will be affected.

Other factors, like your body mass index (BMI), depend only on your metabolism. This, and others like doing exercise, are some factors that do not depend on how much marijuana you tend to consume. Still, they rely on how your organism works and the routines you apply to your daily basis.

The doses, the frequency, the mode of administration, the type of cannabis you use, and its potency are some other variants that will affect the time that THC and other components remain in your blood. If, in addition, you tend to consume marijuana or THC in an edible product, this will make that cannabis stay a little bit longer.

Types Of Weed Consumers

Marijuana consumption has changed a lot through the years, from its social concept and acceptance to the legalization of its use. Just as these factors have changed, also the average marijuana user has evolved too. The fact that the average marijuana user has changed, and even disaggregated, has created the need to study this demographic issue and categorize them.

Let’s take a look at some of the different types of marijuana users:

  • The Social Opportunist: This is probably the most common in the population. About 17% of cannabis consumers are considered social opportunists, and according to them, they consume “a few times a year, often exclusively with others”.

  • The Silver Dabbler: These are the light cannabis user, up to 14% of the population of users are around this group. These people use cannabis mostly for recreation and “relaxation”. The archetype involves those who procure cannabis mostly from friends, and single divorced, middle-aged men who live alone.

  • Traditional Lifestyle: Heavy users. up to 14% of the marijuana user population. The archetype is young people, diverse and mostly single. They consume marijuana daily and spend lots of money on it.

  • Weekend Enthusiast: 11% of consumers. People in their 40’s, parents who consume marijuana to help them relax. Commonly get their weed from private dealers and focus a lot on the quality of their pot.

  • Modern Lifestyle: Heavy consumers, up to 10% of the consumer population. They spend their recreational time in cannabis markets and get their supply from dispensaries.

  • Discreet Unwinder: Moderate users, about 8% of the population. Recreational users and medical users that get cannabis for dealing with physical pain. Most of them have been using weed for decades, but are very discreet about it and don’t feel comfortable being watched while consuming.

There exist some other categories of weed consumers, but we attach this list to the most relevant.

How Long Does THC Remain In Your Urine, Blood & Hair?

A notable feature of how the THC works in your body is that it will accumulate more than your system can flush out naturally. Cannabis components such as THC can be detectable up to three months past your last consumption, no matter your consumption routines.

  • Hair: THC in your hair can be detected up to 90 days after your last consumption. But on the other hand, drug tests based on hair are unreliable since the hair test is a little invasive and takes less time to study than conventional urine and blood tests. This factor, most of the time, leads to false positives.

  • Urine: To pass urine test the most common testing method and most popular indeed because of their effectiveness and because it’s not too invasive. The test results will give a positive for a person who’s a regular user, even more than 30 days after last consumption. 

  • Blood: The blood test has a shorter detection time and can detect THC only up to two days after last consumption. If you’re a chronic user, the test will only give a positive if you get tested up to seven days after your latest consumption.

Other tests, like saliva tests, also have a short period of action. This is because THC in your saliva can only be detected up to three days after your last cannabis consumption. So, saliva tests are inefficient after that duration.

This is if you’re a regular or eventual user. If you’re a chronic marijuana user, the saliva test can be positive up to 29 days after your last consumption. You can use THC detox methods to flush out weed out of your system.

Which Professions Use THC Blood Tests?

There are a lot of companies that still have a strong drug test policy. Even with the movements about marijuana legalization and the struggle to find workers, it is a fact that most of us will have to face an employment-based THC test when looking for a job.

So, even when the legalization of marihuana use is more and more extended, you should always consider if your profession is commonly attached to drug test policies.

Let’s take a look at three professions known to commonly use THC blood tests.

  • Government positions: Yes, this one looks pretty obvious. But you must know that if you’re working for a public position, such as the federal government, state or county, you’ll probably be issued a drug test during the hiring process or after it.
  • Security Jobs: Policemen, prison security, private business security and other jobs related to vigilance and security, are commonly known to get their employees to get a blood THC test.
  • Transportation jobs: Most transportation jobs require their employees to regularly take THC tests before working. Truck drivers, bus drivers, pilots, ferrymen, and any other transportation job will demand that you give proof of sobriety before getting hired.

How To Eliminate THC From A Person’s System?

At this point, you may be wondering more about how to get the THC out of your blood and your organism than anything else. Very well, it’s very important that first, you understand that getting rid of the THC in your body is not an easy task.

Detoxing your body from THC means getting rid of the psychoactive substances as quick as possible. It will depend on how much cannabis you use and if you use it for medical reasons or not. Even if your BMI is too high and your metabolism is too slow, these are factors that will determine if the detox is quick and effective or not.

So, in other words, any detox strategy you choose will be either easy or difficult depending on many reasons, and some of them are even out of your control.

If you’re considering getting a THC detox, you must take into consideration that detoxing to passing a drug test is a very different goal than trying to just clean your body from cannabidiol. In most cases, you’ll have a small window of time for you to deal with THC metabolites in your body after receiving notice of an impending drug test.

The time a cannabis detox can take depends on how many metabolites are in your tissues. The detox times can go from 24 hours, in the case of blood, or much more than seven days if it’s in your urine.

Tips On How To Cleanse Your Blood Of THC

Okay, let’s assume that you need to get a THC detox as soon as possible because you just want to make a life-changing decision about marijuana and not because you’re getting a urine test at your job next week. Here we have a few pieces of advice for you to begin your journey to detoxification:

  • Cranberry Juice

Cranberry juice is a very popular drink because of its tasty flavor and the ease of getting it. But not only that, what you’re looking for in your cranberry juice is more than just tastiness. This is because cranberry juice is a diuretic that will help you to get rid of any weed residues in your blood.

That’s right, cranberry juice can make you discharge urine with a higher frequency than average. And that’s the main reason why so many people recommend drinking cranberry juice for detoxing purposes.

  • Lemon Water

Lemon Water is the most preferred way to get rid of any “detectable” amount of THC in your body. If you’re looking to get rid of marihuana components from your body,  then drinking this instead of water is a great choice.

To do this, just dilute a tablespoon of lemon juice into half a litre of water. Since this option is not very potent and is all-natural, you can consume it frequently without worrying about side effects.

  • Immediately Quitting

Yes, for most situations, abstention is the better solution, and detoxing your body from THC is not an exclusion. If you genuinely want to clean your blood and eliminate any cannabis components, stop consuming marijuana. This will be your best movement from the very first moment.

It may sound obvious, but there’s no better way to avoid a positive in a drug test than taking no drugs.

  • Exercise

Exercise can be beneficial to your health; it can also be helpful to release any stored THC in your body. If you’re looking for a quick solution to a drug test, this is not the best option for you. Doing a workout won’t have any immediate effect on the THC or metabolites in your blood and tissues.

  • Try Some Detox Products

You certainly have hundreds of choices of detox products available in the market. But even if you buy the best-recommended detox product, it won’t be effective enough if you don’t change your routines. You must know that it will only be effective depending on each and every factor mentioned above.

Go to a pharmacy and get the best detox product they recommend, mix it with good habits to get results.

The type of marijuana, doses and the time you have consumed plays a part in the effectiveness of detox products. If you take no consideration of these factors, you’ll end up wasting time and money for no results at all.

How Does THC Affect Your Body?

The main characteristic of THC is that it is a solid psychoactive in cannabis. This means that its main feature is that it can influence a person psychologically. For this reason, many people wonder whether THC can cause mental health disorders. Moreover, the government limits recreational marijuana use in various areas because of some side effects such as marijuana addiction.

  • THC Produces Pleasure Sensations: The cannabinoids as THC communicate with specific areas of the brain, which are the ones in charge of producing the sensations of pleasure and relaxation. This means THC affects directly on the sensory systems of your body.

  • Increases Dopamine Production: Your brain receptors start dopamine production from the first contact with cannabidiol. Dopamine is a hormone that transmits happiness, calm, and pleasure to your body.

  • Your Memories Will be Affected: THC, as psychoactive it is, attacks directly the hippocampus. Hippocampus is the brain section in charge of memories, emotions, and the nervous system. The action of THC in the hippocampus can cause dysfunction in memories, neuronal processes, and the body coordinating system.

  • Stress Can Overcome Pleasure: Not everything about consuming marijuana is about pleasure, relaxation, and disconnection. THC can also produce adverse effects such as anxiety, paranoia, and tachycardia. Depending on your health, the dose, and the way of administration, it can take up to 30 minutes for THC to take effect on you, and up to two hours to banish.

FAQs About THC Staying In The Blood

How Long Does Weed Stay In My Blood?

It takes almost 30 days for the metabolites of THC to disappear from the bloodstream after usage. Abstinence for a few days does not prevent a test from detecting THC in your organism. However, you don’t need to worry though, since it doesn’t show up in blood tests for three days after consumption.

Do Blood Drug Tests Look For CBD?

CBD is not a psychoactive substance. There’s no regular test designed to detect CBD on the organism. Consider that the law requires that any CBD product cannot include more than 0.3% of it. So, in all, it’s complicated that any test can be positive because of CBD.

Can A Blood Test Identify Edible THC?

Suppose you’ve consumed any edible product based on or composed of cannabidiol. In that case, it will surely go into your bloodstream and still be identifiable by a blood drug test.

Can Secondhand Smoke Be The Reason For My Test To Be Positive?

It’s improbable for you to fail a THC test if you breathe secondhand marijuana smoke. According to expert opinion, if an individual exhales marijuana smoke, very little to almost no THC goes into the atmosphere.  Only if you spend many hours close to a smoker in an enclosed space, you may have failed a test.

Can I Still Be Positive On A Test If I Just Smoked Once?

You’ll be positive on any test if you smoked in a period less than three days; even if just once. Whether you’re a regular, eventual, or chronic consumer doesn’t matter. If you had marihuana for less than 30 days, you have the risk of a positive urine test.

Conclusion: How Long Does THC Stay In The Blood?

Veterans and infrequent users alike constantly wonder how long weed stays in the system. Furthermore, chronic users fear that abrupt urine tests can prove cannabis consumption to their employers, landing them in trouble.

Our review has hopefully cleared out the myths and now you know how long marijuana stays in the body. Still, this is not a queue to partake in drug abuse, and if you have any underlying medical conditions, consider seeking professional medical advice from licensed medical professionals before using any THC product.

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