How long weed stays in your blood system depends on various factors, including the frequency of use, the method of consumption, and the level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contained in the plant. When cannabis is consumed, the THC gets absorbed into the fatty tissues, which makes it detectable for long afterward. The factors determining detection are mainly the frequency of use and the type of drug test. Wondering, how long marijuana lasts in blood? Keep reading, please.
Types Of Drug Tests
Detection of THC levels is usually carried out using several types of tests using different samples of DNA. The more sensitive the test, the higher the chances of the test finding reduced drug levels. The samples obtained for testing are the blood, saliva, urine, and hair.
How Long Does THC Stay In The Blood System?
About 15% of marijuana consumed remains stored in the body, so THC stays in the bloodstream from 1 to 30 days or more after last use. However, the amount of time it spends in the body varies with the frequency of use. The metabolites of THC remain in the body for long after the effects may have worn off, and this is why a typical drug test will look for THC. A blood test will be able to detect cannabis consumption that has occurred within 3 to 12 hours. Detection varies due to frequency of use, and for chronic users, the days are longer. This means for a heavy user, THC will still be detectable in the blood for up to 30 days after they may have last smoked or ingested it. In a urine test, cannabis will be detected from 3 to 30 days after last use for light to heavy users, respectively.
Type of Test: Blood
Detection Window: About 3 - 12 hours
Type of Test: Saliva
Detection Window: Up to 2 days
Type of Test: Urine
Detection Window: About 3-30 days
Things You Should Not Do After Using Weed
It is not advisable to consume certain things or carry out some activities due to the side effects of using weed. Here are a few things you should not do after using weed.
- Consuming Alcohol: Being a psychoactive substance, you should consume intoxicating liquids like alcohol after consuming weed. This could compound the high from the THC, leading to impaired consciousness, and judgment, and in some cases, the person passes out. Therefore, you should avoid any form of alcohol after smoking or ingesting Cannabis.
- High-Performance Tasks: You should not perform life-threatening activities like driving or operating heavy machinery after using weed. Cannabis causes decreased concentration and slows motor responses, which could result in fatal injuries.
How Marijuana Affects Your Blood System
Pot can be ingested in different ways, including smoking or adding to foods. When it is smoked, the inhaled smoke's compounds leave the lungs for the bloodstream. Within seconds or minutes, they head into the brain and other organs. When eaten, the cannabis compounds go from the digestive system to the liver, and then to the bloodstream in some minutes. THC is the intoxicating part of marijuana and has many potential health effects like:
- Pain
- Nausea
- Reduction in appetite
- Insomnia
What we do know about how THC acts once it has been absorbed into the bloodstream is as follows:
Affects the Respiratory System
Toxic compounds, including ammonia and hydrogen cyanide, are present in cannabis smoke, just as they are in tobacco smoke, and both can irritate the bronchi and the lungs. Regular smokers are more prone to have breathing problems such as wheezing, coughing, and mucus production. Bronchitis and other lung illnesses are also more likely to occur.
Affects the Cardiovascular System
THC circulates throughout your body after leaving your lungs and entering your bloodstream. Your heart rate could rise by 20 to 50 beats per minute in a matter of minutes. dependable source Up to three hours can pass during that period of a fast heartbeat. Your heart must work harder to supply more oxygen as a result. This could increase your chance of a heart attack if you already have heart problems.
Affects the Central Nervous System
Cannabis has an impact on the entire central nervous system (CNS). Cannabis is believed to reduce pain and inflammation, as well as help with seizure and spasm management. However, there may be detrimental long-term effects on the CNS to take into account. THC causes the brain to release a lot of dopamine, a substance that makes you feel happy naturally. It is what causes you to feel good. Your sensory awareness and sense of time may both be enhanced. The reason why up to 30% of cannabis users acquire cannabis use disorder may also be explained by this dopamine cycle. Although it may be rare, severe cannabis use disorders or addiction can happen.
Affects the Digestive System
When you inhale after smoking marijuana, you could experience some stinging or burning in your mouth and throat. When ingested, cannabis can upset the stomach. THC has been demonstrated to reduce nausea and vomiting, but strangely, long-term heavy use can reverse this effect in some people. Any form of THC can cause an increase in hunger, which is a typical side effect known as "the munchies." For those who need to put on weight or enhance their appetite, like cancer patients getting chemotherapy, this may be advantageous.
Factors That Influence How Long Marijuana Stays in Your Blood
If you are wondering “how long does marijuana stay in the bloodstream?”, the answer is not straightforward because it depends on a number of factors. The component of cannabis known as tetrahydrocannabinol that causes "highness" can linger in the body for days or even weeks. Numerous variables affect how long Marijuana stays in your blood. These consist of:
- A person's body fat percentage
- How frequently they use the medicine
- How much smoking is done
- How sensitive a drug test is
Alcohol and other drugs may leave the body entirely in a few hours. Weed, in contrast, lingers for a very long time. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can be detected in drug tests for many days after usage in urine, blood, and hair, but not in saliva. This is a result of how THC is metabolized by the body. Chemically speaking, THC is lipid soluble, and as a result, it takes longer for someone to entirely get rid of THC since it binds to fat in the body. Several variables affect whether a test finds cannabis, including the following:
Percentage of Fat in the Body
Since cannabis is stored in fat, those with a higher concentration of body fat may metabolize the drug more slowly than those with a lower concentration. Therefore, body fat contributes to how long weed stays in your bloodstream. One indicator of body fat is the body mass index (BMI). However, BMI is not an absolute indicator of body fat because weight (and thus BMI) rise with muscle mass.
Hydration
There is a correlation between dehydration and elevated THC levels. While it's doubtful that hydrating with water will significantly impact a drug test, extreme dehydration could. So not drinking enough water could affect how long THC will stay in blood.
Exercising
The rate at which THC is metabolized by the body is not considerably affected by exercise. In contrast, working out right before getting a drug test could improve your results. Statistically substantial increases in THC concentrations were found after exercise, suggesting that drug testing may be more likely to return a positive result if performed immediately beforehand.
Metabolism
Eliminating THC and metabolic compounds linked to THC is necessary for a negative drug test result. People with a faster metabolism tend to get rid of THC faster than those who have a slower metabolism. This decreases how long Marijuana lasts in the blood.
Gender
When comparing sexes, women tend to have more body mass than their male counterparts. This suggests that females may have a little slower metabolization of cannabis than males.
Conclusion
The time it takes for a person to completely metabolize and flush out cannabis from their system is completely unpredictable. People can check their systems for traces of cannabis with the use of at-home tests. Within 30 days, most people will no longer have any detectable cannabis in their system. It may take as little as 10 days for cannabis to be eliminated from the system of a person who uses it rarely.
