How long does weed stay in your blood?

How long does weed stay in your blood?

Before we delve deeper into the question of how long cannabis remains detectable in your bloodstream, it's good to know that of all drugs, both cannabis and hashish are the longest detectable. Exactly how long this lasts depends on several factors, which we'll discuss later. Incidentally, not every cannabis or hashish user will be interested in this information, but some cannabis connoisseurs among us certainly are. Think of people who work in a position where cannabis use is not tolerated and are sometimes even tested for it. Does this apply to you? Then read on!

How long does weed stay in our system?

Let's get straight to the point: unfortunately, there's no single, clear answer to this question. It depends on several factors, such as age, gender, metabolism, BMI, and ultimately, how often someone actually consumes cannabis.

For example, a healthy person who smokes a joint occasionally will process the breakdown products of cannabis faster than an unhealthy person or a (heavy) daily user.

As a rule of thumb, cannabis breakdown products are detectable in a person's blood for a minimum of two to a maximum of six weeks. The most effective way to test for the presence of (active) cannabis in our blood is via a urine test. This is therefore by far the most commonly used method by employers and other agencies to test individuals for cannabis use.

Breakdown process of cannabis

Now that it's clear how long cannabis stays in our blood, it's helpful to also get a clear picture of the breakdown process of cannabis in the human body. It works as follows:

Smoking marijuana THC (metabolites) into your bloodstream. This substance travels through the bloodstream to fatty tissue. Then, the substances slowly return to the bloodstream. But precisely because this last step is so slow, marijuana remains detectable in the bloodstream for a relatively long time.

Here we see again that your BMI influences the length of time cannabis is present in your blood. More fat tissue can contain more active ingredients, resulting in a longer breakdown time.

Displays how long cannabis remains traceable in our system

See the table for a representation of the periods during which cannabis remains traceable in the blood. 

How to get weed out of your system fastest

Now that we know how long cannabis remains detectable in our system, it can also be useful to know how we can remove the breakdown products from our bodies as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Let's make one thing clear right away: there is no guarantee that we will get the drug out of our system sooner than 2 weeks after using cannabis.

The steps to drastically reduce the chance of a positive test result. 

The best way to fail your drug test, logically, is to stop using cannabis.

In addition, follow these steps to drastically reduce the chance of a positive drug test.

Drink more fluids  

As mentioned earlier, the most effective and most commonly used drug test is a urine test. The key step that provides immediate results against this type of test is drinking fluids. This has several causes. Your body cleanses itself faster when you urinate more. Furthermore, drinking a lot dilutes your urine, making it harder to detect the breakdown products.

So drink plenty of water, coffee, or tea. Lemon juice can also be effective. Lemon juice speeds up your metabolism, especially where the body stores waste products. Drinking lemon juice first thing in the morning, if you have a drug test, is therefore very effective.

Lifestyle

Adjusting your lifestyle can affect your drug test results in several ways. For example, getting enough good sleep provides a good period during which substances are broken down naturally.

In addition, exercise can also be beneficial. The more you sweat, the faster the waste products leave our system.