To determine whether a person has been high on weed, you should find out how long marijuana stays in urine. Urine is the most common way to test for marijuana and its metabolites. Unlike saliva or blood, urine stays in the system much longer than other body fluids.
While weed can stay in the bloodstream for a short time, it will be traceable in urine for up to two days.
The amount of time that weed remains in the system will depend on many factors.
THC metabolites
When taking a drug test, the real question is how long do marijuana metabolites stay in urine? It is possible to test positive for THC for a long time, but the longer the drug stays in your body, the higher the chances of getting caught.
There are several factors that determine how long THC stays in your urine. Your diet and exercise can also affect how long THC stays in your system.
In general, THC stays in the body for three to 30 days after use, although this is dependent on how often you consume it and how much you use.
Chronic daily smokers can accumulate THC in the body much faster than someone who uses weed infrequently. Oral weed takes longer to break down in the body than smoked or vaped.
Depending on how much marijuana a person consumes and when, they can be detected in urine for up to 30 days.
Active THC
The amount of time active THC stays in the urine depends on several factors, including your metabolism. As cannabis is metabolized by the body, THCCOOH leaves the body faster if your metabolism is higher.
However, your body’s metabolic rate can be affected by various factors, including age, body weight, and amount of fat in the blood. If you’re concerned about passing a drug test, you can always take some precautions to help increase your metabolic rate and leave the cannabis metabolite in the urine.
The first urine sample contains the most metabolites. Drinking plenty of water before a urine test can help the kidneys excrete the drug’s metabolites, which are also present in the urine. It’s also important to note that drinking a lot of water before the test can flag your sample as a result of purposeful dilution.
If your urine test shows that active THC has been detected in the urine, you may need to replace the sample with a new one.
Cannabinoid levels
While a drug’s “retention time” is indeterminable, it is still possible to detect cannabinoids in urine, particularly if a sample contains at least 20 ng of THC per mL. In addition, the drug’s “clean-out period” is relatively short, at a couple of days after the last smoking episode. This is because on-site THC detection devices detect cannabinoids within the urine within about two to three days.
The duration of THC detection in urine varies between individuals. In heavy marijuana users, THC metabolites can be detected for more than 90 days.
Other factors that can increase the length of time marijuana remains in the body are age, weight, individual metabolism, physical exertion, and genetics. In general, marijuana will stay longer in the blood than it does in urine.
However, heavy marijuana users should be aware that their urine may show evidence of the drug for longer.
Testing for THC metabolites
A urine test for marijuana detects 11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH), a metabolite of delta-9-THC, the pharmacologically active component of marijuana.
In a typical individual, 80%-90% of the total dose is excreted in urine, 65% in feces, and a few micrograms remain in the body. In an individual who uses marijuana only once, the THC-COOH level in urine is low enough to be undetectable within a few days.
THC urine tests can be useful for evaluating weaning and monitoring consumption. Whenever possible, a series of screenings is recommended. The first screening serves as the reference test and subsequent screenings show a progressively decreasing amount of THC.
By doing so, it is possible to determine whether or not the subject has stopped using marijuana, which is important in case of addiction and relapse. This test can also be used as a means of determining compliance with an order to abstain from marijuana use.
