How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Your System
September 1, 2021
How long does marijuana stay in your system if you’re a regular or occasional user? For how long can it be traceable in our blood, urine, or saliva? And what about Marinol? How long can it stay in our bodies?
Well, we’re going to answer these and a lot of other questions regarding marijuana use and its connection with our bodies. Admittedly, discussing the length of time THC is detectable in your body has a lot of “ifs”, but we tried to cover most of them.
So, without further ado, let’s cut to the chase!
How Long Does THC Stay in Your System?
To answer this question, you need to consider the following:
- Your body fat
- The frequency of use
- The quantity of smoking.
Unlike alcohol, which disappears from our system in a matter of hours, marijuana will remain in our bodies much longer.
For example, THC can stay in our blood, urine, or hair many days after the consumption of the drug because it binds to the fat in our body, making it harder to disappear.
What’s more, the more marijuana you take, the longer it will stay in your system.
Now, let’s get into more details.
How Long Does THC Stay in Your Urine?
Marijuana can stay in your urine for between 3 and 30 days. To be more precise, the length will depend on the frequency of use.
- If you use marijuana three times a week, it will stay in your urine for three days.
- If you take it four times a week, it will stay in your urine for 5 to 7 days.
- If you’re a daily consumer, cannabis can be found in your urine after 10–15 days.
- Heavy consumers need to be cautious. Traces of marijuana can be found in their urine even after 30 days (up to 2 months).
Some suggest even a 60 days period for heavy smokers, but that would probably be relying on the fact humans don’t come in standard shapes and sizes, and bodies react differently.
How Long Does Weed Stay in Your Hair?
When you consume weed, regardless of the method (vaping, eating, smoking), its active compounds will enter your bloodstream. Moreover, some of the cannabinoids will get into the blood vessels that “feed the cells of your scalp.”
This practically means that THC will enter your hair papilla, where it can stay for a shocking 90 days.
How Long Does Weed Stay in Your Blood?
THC can stay in your blood for 3-4 hours. When it enters your system, it passes from the lungs into the bloodstream. Through our blood, THC gets to our brain and other organs.
The cannabinoid does not remain in the blood for long, unlike alcohol. Instead, it goes to fat rapidly.
Keep in mind that marijuana can stay in your blood for seven days if you’re a regular user. On top of that, regular users can develop tolerance to THC.
How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Your Saliva?
Again, this will depend on the body mass index, age, metabolism, and frequency of use. When it comes to occasional users, weed can stay in their saliva between 24 and 72 hours. Regular users can have traces of marijuana in their saliva for up to 30 days.
Some studies even show that THC can be traced in the saliva 13.5 hours after smoking, among both occasional and regular users.
How Long Does Marinol Stay In Your System?
First of all, let us explain what Marinol is. In short, Marinol is a prescription drug that’s used to treat digestive problems linked to cancer therapy and immunodeficiencies.
Marinol and marijuana contain similar compounds. However, unlike marijuana, Marinol is approved by the FDA as a Schedule III drug.
Marinol’s main active substance is a synthetic cannabinoid (dronabinol), which imitates THC’s clinical effectiveness and structure.
Like marijuana, dronabinol can stay in your bloodstream, fat tissue, and hair follicles.
How Long Does Marinol Stay in Your System and Urine?
This will depend on a few factors:
- your metabolism
- your body mass
- your age
- hydration level
- physical activity
- health conditions.
In other words, Marinol can stay in your urine for two days to five weeks.
How Long Does Marinol Stay in Your Saliva?
Marinol can stay in your saliva for one to ten days.
How Long Does Marinol Stay in Your Hair?
For most people, Marinol can stay in their hair for 90 days (same as THC).
How Long Does Marinol Stay in Your Blood?
Marinol can stay in your blood for only two days.
Marinol’s Side Effects
The most common side effects of taking Marinol are:
- feeling “high”
- feeling drowsy and dizzy
- nausea and vomiting
- stomach pain
- unusual thoughts and confusion
- feelings of extreme happiness
- anxiety.
How Long Does Weed Stay in the System of an Athlete?
If you’re into Olympic games, you’ve probably read the recent news about a 21-year old American track star, Sha’Carri Richardson, who was suspended from the US Olympic team (for one month). Why? She tested positive for THC, one week after she burned one to deal with the personal loss.
So, how long does marijuana stay in your system if you’re an athlete?
As mentioned before, since THC travels through your body, it can stay there long after you finish your last joint. It doesn’t matter if you’re an athlete or non-athlete. Certain athlete traits may and may not be helpful.
While trying to find out how long does weed stay in the system, researchers did some tests which suggest that exercising before a drug test won’t do you much good. In fact, when the body metabolizes the body fat, even more THC is released.
However, exercising could be helpful in the long term. I.e., less fat equals less stored cannabinoids. Athletes exercise on a regular basis so their metabolism works faster on average, which means that the weed will leave their body more quickly.
Yet, there is no exact proof or study showing athletes are in a favored position when it comes to THC concentration in their bodies.
How Long Do Edibles Stay In Your System?
As you know, smoking or vaping can hit us much faster, compared to consuming edibles which take longer to take effect. On top of that, with edibles, the experience of being high lasts longer. Why?
Simply put, with edibles, our liver tries to break the THC that entered our system. By doing so, it creates a new compound—11-Hydroxy-THC, which basically makes us high. Since 11-Hydroxy-THC is more potent, it will stay longer in our bodies.
Given that our body processes edibles differently than it does concentrate or flowers, THC will stay longer in our system if we eat marijuana products.
So, how long does it take for weed to leave your system? There is no concise answer because it varies from person to person and it will depend on the amount you take.
Some say that edibles stay in our system for 3–12 days. However, if you’re a regular user, THC can stay in your system for a month or even longer.
There is another problem with edibles. Although they look and taste delicious (especially the Delta 8 gummies), people are often unable to determine the potency of an edible, which can lead to eating more than you can handle.
Final Thoughts on How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Your System
Since all of us are different individuals, marijuana will stay in our system for a different amount of time. The length will also depend on various factors, like our body fat, how much we consume marijuana, and how often.
Now that you learned what’s the connection with marijuana and our bodies and how long it can stay in our urine, blood, saliva, or hair, you can continue to consume your Mary Jane with care.
FAQs
How long do edibles last?
Food or drink containing marijuana is metabolized quite differently. Digesting a brownie takes more than processing a hard candy or tea, which are metabolized rapidly.
Depending on your organism and how much you’ve eaten/drunk, the effects of edibles last from 3 to 10 hours, but THC will stay in your system for 3–12 days.
Unless you’re a heavy regular, you should be fine after a week (or two). But be careful about the dosage! The delayed effect tricks many people into consuming more than recommendable.
How long does a high last?
How long a high lasts mostly depends on whether you are vaping, smoking, or ingesting marijuana.
Of course, the first will set you off faster, and the effect will last from 1 to 4 hours. When eating or drinking, the desired reaction is felt later, but it can last up to 8 hours.
Does marijuana lower blood pressure?
According to Harvard studies, the situation is quite the opposite. Cannabinoids make the heart work harder, increase the heart rate, and dilate blood vessels.
Does that mean you’re going to have a heart attack if you smoke pot? Well, if you’ve got a history of heart disease, you’d better consult your doctor about it.
If you’re healthy, you should have nothing to worry about regarding your precious organ.
How long does weed stay in your system?
It will depend on the dosage, the frequency of use, and the quantity. For most people, weed is detectable in bodily fluids for 1 to 30 days. Marijuana can also be detected in hair, where it can stay for three months.
Moreover, if you eat marijuana edibles, they will stay longer in your system compared to smoking or vaping.
Another key point we need to mention when it comes to answering “how long does marijuana stay in your system” is that the more you take, the longer it will stay in your body.
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