Cannabis 101: How Long Does Weed Stay In Your System?
It’s an unfortunate reality that, from time to time, a simple answer can be difficult to come by. However, this is not to say that such answers are impossible to obtain or, bare minimum, competently estimate. It may be of benefit to keep this in mind because the question is one that will not offer any simple answers: how long does cannabis stay in your system?
First, let’s clear something up: if you are reading up on this subject because you have an appointment to pee a cup in your near future, this is not a definitive guide, and should not be used for the purposes of attempting to pass a test.
If you are in such a situation, it is highly advised that you play it safe and give yourself as much time as possible to let your system clear itself out. Do not approach a drug test like a pilot attempting to land on an improvised airstrip. Instead, try to plan ahead and, in the more dire situations, stay hydrated.
The amount of time it will take your body to clear itself of THC metabolites—these are what drug tests are looking for—can vary greatly, and depends on a number of factors. The first of these factors is consistency with which you smoke. The more frequently you ingest cannabis, the longer it takes for your body to completely rid itself of THC metabolites. Of all the factors affecting the time necessary to clear out your system, this may be the most pertinent.
If you are a non-smoker who, for whatever reason, decides to take a little walk on the wild side and smoke a bit with your friends, it is highly likely that the THC metabolites will clear out of your system in a matter of days—less than a week, most likely. However, if you are somebody who finds themselves regularly imbibing, you could be looking at a far longer time period.
Cannabis Remaining In Your System vs. Still Being Detectable
However, it should be pointed out that there is a significant difference between how long cannabis remains in your system and how long it can be detected in your system.
The most common means of detecting cannabis within one’s system is a urine test. It’s the tried and true method for employers and parole officers alike. For chronic users of cannabis, they can detect THC metabolites as long as 30 days after the individual in question discontinues their use.
Saliva tests are a fair amount less common, and far less reliable. Even from chronic users, it is possible to present a clean result for a saliva test as soon as a day or two after discontinuing cannabis consumption. Testing a hair sample is also a less frequent method of detection but, so long as there are an inch and a half of hair present, it can detect use within the past three months.
The method of testing and frequency of use are, far and away, the most prominent factors in determining how long cannabis will stay in your system. However, factors such as age, gender, and weight—although less impactful—can still have an impact on how long it takes a body to clean itself of THC metabolites. There are also indicators that more potent weed (weed with higher THC content) and THC that is ingested orally can remain in your system longer THC that is consumed by smoking or vaping.
Legal Purchasing Limits for Cannabis Products
Adults 21 and over can purchase up to one ounce of usable cannabis flower, 16 ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, 72 ounces of cannabis drinkables, and 7 grams of cannabis concentrates.
Three ounces of usable cannabis flower, forty-eight ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, two hundred sixteen ounces of cannabis drinkables, and twenty-one grams of cannabis concentrates, per the Washington State Department of Health.
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