Wondering
how long a joint will make you high? Or how long cannabis is detectable on a
drug test? Here are a few common questions answered.
How Long Does a Joint Make You High?
How
long a joint will make you high is not a simple question to answer as it
depends on a number of factors. These include:
- The strength of the marijuana or rather how much tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) it contains.
- How much you consume.
- Your body weight and in particular how much body fat you have.
- Your metabolism
- Whether or not you are a heavy smoker and have built up a tolerance.
- And how you consume as smoking or vaping will have a quicker effect that if you eat cannabis
·
If
you are using cannabis medicinally you may wish to choose a strain that has
lower levels of THC. You can apply for a medical recommendation here to give
better access to medical marijuana.
How it works
Marijuana
contains many active compounds that have different effects on the body.
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the compound responsible for getting you
high.
When
you smoke or vape cannabis the effects peak within minutes and usually last for
1-3 hours depending on the dose. However, when you eat cannabis effects will
generally peak around the one to two-hour mark and may be noticeable for up to
24 hours.
Essentially
your high lasts as long as THC is interacting with your endocannabinoid system
which is dependent on your metabolism. In order for you to feel high, there
needs to be THC in your bloodstream. Your body starts breaking this down as
soon as you consume it and the faster your metabolism the quicker this process
will be and therefore the shorter your high.
However,
that interaction may not leave you feeling high at low levels and this is where
tolerance comes in. Frequent users may feel less of a high or feel the effects
of a hit of weed for a shorter period of time than infrequent users.
Detecting Marijuana
Detecting
Marijuana and marijuana metabolites is generally possible for greater lengths
of time than you are actually feeling the effects as marijuana stays in the
body for varying lengths of time.
The
THC in marijuana is broken down into a number of metabolites by the body. Both
THC and its metabolites are hydrophobic (water-fearing) meaning they are not
dissolved by water but instead are attracted to fats and end up being stored in
body fat to be broken down and disposed of later. This is one reason the
detection window for marijuana may be longer than other drugs.
How Long Can a Joint Be Detected on a Drugs
Test?
Often
people are less concerned with how a joint will make you high for and more
concerned with marijuana detection time, wanting to figure out whether or not
they are likely to test positive for marijuana in an upcoming drugs test.
Test
detection varies on a number of factors including the type of test, what is
being tested for (THC detection has a narrower window than THC metabolites),
the amount of THC that has been ingested and whether the individual being
tested is an occasional user, regular user or chronic user.
For
example, a light user being subjected to a saliva drug test more than 24 hours
after smoking a joint is likely to pass the test. Whereas heavy users who last
smoked marijuana at the same time may still have detectable THC and it is
possible this could be above cut-off levels.
Drug
testing can broadly be split into two categories. Testing for present
intoxication and testing for historical use. With this in mind how long a joint
stays in your system will vary depending on what is being tested.
Testing For Present Intoxication
There
are a number of different marijuana drug tests. When testing for present
intoxication positive results will mean marijuana users must test positive for
THC rather than it’s metabolites.
Saliva
tests and blood tests can both be used and blood tests, in particular, have
different detection times depending on how frequently a person uses cannabis
products. A person who is a chronic user may take up to a week before their
blood THC level drops below the 5 ng/ml cutoff level due to the way that the
body metabolizes cannabinoids.
Therefore
it is possible for a person to be drug tested and test positive despite not
being currently high.
Testing for Historic Use
As
well as testing for active THC test products have also been developed to check
for historical drug use by checking for the presence of marijuana metabolites.
The most common testing method is urine testing although hair follicle tests
may also be used.
A
urine drug test will show evidence of substance abuse for anywhere up to 90
days for heavy users whereas positive testing is only likely for around 2 weeks
for one time users.
Urine
drug tests are common as part of pre-employment checks and you may have to give
a urine sample. Home drug tests can give you a good indication of whether or
not you will test positive. If you are not a heavy user, haven’t smoked for a
few weeks and have tested clean at home then you are probably fine.
Hair
follicle drug testing is less common but can show evidence of drug use for much
longer periods. A follicle test is likely to reveal drug use in the previous 3
months for frequent users but a hair test is less reliable for infrequent
users.
If
you are wondering how long a joint stays in your system because you have a drug
test coming up and testing negative is important there are a few things you can
do to increase your chances of passing. Firstly stop smoking now. Even medical
marijuana with lower levels of THC will still give a positive test result and
false positives are very rare.
There
are detox kits you can get to support your body as it metabolizes the cannabis
and may help you through THC withdrawal but ultimately your body will work at
its own pace and every person is different.
No comments:
Post a Comment