Marijuana, more specifically, THC, can be detected in your system for varying lengths of time. That is to say, depending on the amount of THC consumed and other factors such as how often you use marijuana, impacts how long the drug stays in your system. Several tests including saliva, urine and blood tests can detect the drug. Jump to our visual story “How to Get Marijuana Out of Your System” for a snapshot in under a minute.
Marijuana Drug Test for Job
Many job opportunities require a drug test. Typically, if marijuana is detected, you will fail the drug test and miss out on an opportunity. That is why people are constantly trying to find ways to remove marijuana out of their system faster than the body would expel it naturally. As a result, there are numerous products on the internet that claim they will do it, but do they even work?
How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Your System?
First, let’s briefly examine what happens to THC once it reaches your body. After using marijuana, THC is metabolized primarily by the liver and is converted to compounds, which make it easier to be expelled from the body. If you’re wondering on average how many days to get weed out of your system, it’s about 5 days. By then most of the THC and its metabolites (about 80-90%) are expelled from the body through feces and urine. The remainder of the THC is usually stored in your tissues and are slowly released. To clarify, even though it’s a small amount being released at a time, it can still be detected on the drug test. For casual smokers, just under a week is how long to get marijuana out of your system.
Factors that Impact How Long Weed Stays in Your System
As alluded to before, the rate that THC is expelled from the body depends on several factors. According to Healthline, the factors include:
- How often you use marijuana
- How much marijuana you use
- Your metabolism
- Your eating habits
- Exercising habits
- Percentage of body fat
Furthermore, the article noted that there is no single standard detection time that marijuana is completely expelled from the body since there are all these various factors to consider. It can take days or months.
How Long is Marijuana Detectable?
Depending on the test, marijuana can be detected for varying amounts of time. The table below summarizes how long marijuana can be detected in various tests according to some studies.
| Test | Detection Time |
| Urine | Single-use users- up to 3 days Moderate users (4 days a week) 5-7 days Daily users- 10-15 days Chronic heavy smokers- more than 30 days |
| Bloodstream | A couple of days, up to a week |
| Hair | 90 days for heavy users |
| Saliva | occasional users- 1-3 days chronic users- 1 to 29 days |
Do Detox Kits Work?
There are several detoxification kits selling on the internet claiming to be able to get marijuana out of your system fast. Is there any truth in these claims?
According to American Addiction Centers, the marijuana detox kits do not help the body to speed up the metabolism of THC and won’t help you pass a drug test. Moreover, these tests typically aim to provide a false negative but don’t actually metabolize THC any quicker.
Marijuana Detox Kits Claim to Flush Body of THC
However, detoxification tests claim to be able to evade several detection tests by flushing your body of THC. According to Healthline detox kits include, “capsules, chewable tablets, drinks, shampoos, and even mouthwashes to help you pass a saliva test”.
Drug Detox Kits for the Urine Test
Since you can’t really tamper with a blood test, detox kits typically focus on the urine test. However, the drug detox kits for urine claim to help you pass a drug test by using adulterants such as goldenseal, vinegar, niacin, vitamin C, or herbal teas according to the American Addiction Center.
According to Go Alice, hosted on Columbia University’s website, tampering is one way that detoxification kits claim to work.
Tampering Adulterants
Tampering refers to ingesting the adulterants mentioned above before you urinate. The article stated that a study determined that herbal teas are the only ones that would significantly decrease metabolites.
Can Herbal Tea Help Get Marijuana Out of System?
According to a study by Amitava Dasgupta, herbal tea in large amounts produced diluted urine and a false negative. The study even stated that excessive consumption of water did that as well. The study says: “Volunteers drank 1 gallon of water (4 doses in a 4-hour period) or herbal tea or hydrochlorothiazide 22 hours after smoking marijuana cigarettes or intranasal administration of cocaine. The creatinine levels dropped below the cutoff 2 hours after intake of excessive fluid. Marijuana and cocaine metabolite levels (as measured by EMIT and TDx) decreased significantly, and results frequently switched from positive to negative after subjects consumed 2 quarts of fluid”. The same study saw similar results with excessive consumption of water.
Even though the herbal tea was able to produce a false negative, urine integrity tests may catch the contaminants and you may also become sick. In addition to that, excessive consumption of water can be life threatening.
Dangers of Drug Detox Kits
There are many ingredients used in detoxification kits that may provide adverse effects. To clarify, the table below contains some compounds that have been found in a body detox kit, specifically a herbal tea and their adverse effects. (For the full table click on the source)
| Ingredient | Adverse Effects |
| Creatine monohydrate | Nausea, diarrhea, hepatic or renal dysfunction |
| Peppermint leaf | Can increase colic in people with gallstones |
| Red root | Central nervous system depression and narcosis |
| Schisandra | Decreased appetite, stomach upset, urticaria, and severe central nervous system depression |
| Uva ursi | Nausea, vomiting, and gastrointestinal discomfort; large amounts can be oxytocic |
There was also a case in 2011, where a 19-year-old man exhibited psychotic symptoms after using a drug detox kit. According to the research, “the relationship between the onset of psychosis and the initiation of the detoxification kit strongly suggests that a correlation exists”.
Are Marijuana Detox Kits Worth It?
Detoxification kits, particularly the ones that you have to consume, primarily focus on dilution of the urine. The kits usually make the user urinate a lot. However, there are urine integrity tests in place that can weed out (pun intended) the urine that has been tampered with.
Drug Detox Kits May Raise Red Flags
Nicolas Rossetti, manager of clinical services of Mobile Health, said in Healthline that, “This flushing of the kidneys can lower the specific gravity or density of the urine and a low specific gravity indicates contamination on the test, and the specimen could be discounted.”
That means the severely diluted urine will raise red flags in the testing lab.
In addition to that, the kits typically alter the amount of creatinine in the urine which is another red flag in the lab results. In that case, they are likely to discredit the false positive and you’ll have to retake the test.
How to Get Marijuana Out of Your System Fast
If you’re trying to figure out how to get weed out of your system fast you should know that detox kits are not going to help you. Since weed detox kits do not remove THC out of your system and may actually be dangerous, you might be reevaluating what options you have. You may wonder how to get weed out of your system fast naturally but the best and most reliable way is to take a break from using it and wait. According to Go Alice, “time is really your best bet for passing the test.”
Conclusion
If you were trying to find out how to get marijuana out of your system fast the most foolproof method is to stop using it temporarily and let the body naturally remove its metabolites. In short, there is no way to get marijuana out of your system overnight and quick fixes such as detoxing, does not cause the body to metabolize marijuana any quicker. As a matter of fact, they may not even help you to pass your drug test due to urine integrity tests. In addition to that, the detox kits themselves may contain ingredients that may be harmful to your health. That said, you can apply to jobs that don’t drug test or take a break from smoking until you land the gig!
