Cannabis is one of the most difficult things to get out of your pee. In comparison to every other drug out there marijuana stays in your system double, sometimes triple the amount of time other substances last. Unfortunately, most jobs require a drug test before you are hired and cannabis is the leading cause of failed drug tests.
https://norml.org/marijuana/drug-testing/drug-testing-tips
https://www.health-street.net/blog-drug-testing/how-to-pass-a-drug-test/
https://www.wikihow.com/Pass-a-Drug-Test-on-Short-Notice
Workplace Drug Testing
Most jobs in America do some form of drug testing either right before hiring or randomly throughout one’s career.
Cannabis has been gaining a lot of popularity as legalization has spread more and more across America. Unfortunately, most jobs still do a random or planned drug test that screen for weed and other substances.
In this day and age the fact that cannabis is still illegal for most of the country is nonsense but the laws are the laws. If you like to indulge in a little cannabis from time to time and are still getting drug tested at work or else where it’s good to know just how long it stays in your system, or more importantly in your urine.
What is THCCOOH?
First it is important to understand that it truly varies how long cannabis may stay in your system. Cannabis loves to attach itself to fatty cells in the body, so the more fatty cells in one’s body the more likely cannabis will stay in your system longer.
The next thing to understand is that drug screenings are looking for THC specifically when it comes to cannabis. Now you may be asking yourself how does THC show up in your urine and how do you get those levels low enough to pass a test. Well the drug tests don’t actually test for THC but a waste product your body produces after it metabolizes the THC in the cannabis you use.
This waste product is called a metabolite and THC’s specific metabolite is called THCCOOH. When you consume cannabis the human body rapidly metabolizes it which makes the user feel high quite fast. Your metabolism then turns the THC into THCCOOH which your body then gets rid of through your urine or feces.
So how long does cannabis stay in your urine?
Well it first depends on how much cannabis you use. If you are a daily cannabis user, it is going to take longer to get those metabolites out of your system than someone who rarely ever smokes.
Infrequent Cannabis User: you’re in luck as the waste material should be out of your system in as little as 5 days.
Weekend Weed Smoker: Now if you smoke a few times a week it will up that timeline to a week or 2. After that you should be fine.
Daily Smoker: If you smoke almost daily with maybe 1 day off it may take as long as a month to a month and a half to get the cannabis out of your system.
Just to be safe, everyday marijuana user and you suddenly have a drug test coming up, you may be a little concerned as it can take up to 75 days for cannabis to truly get out of your system.
Here is a quick reference table for how long it might take THC to exit your system:
| How Often do You Use Cannabis? | Time it Takes THCCOOH to Exit Urine |
| Daily | 75 Days |
| Frequently | 14 Days |
| Rarely | 5 Days |
Now with all that being said this is not an exact science as everybody is a little different and some people metabolize things faster than others. Other things to take into effect is one’s diet and exercising habits. More active people that eat healthy are likely to clean their urine so to speak faster than others who are not that active. Fatty foods that create fat cells however, can do the opposite and can in fact cause THC to stay in your system longer.
How To Pass a Urine Drug Test
If you are extremely worried about an upcoming test we recommend you try and flush out your body as best you can. Drink as much water as possible and exercise can be a big help when trying to clean one’s body.
Detox Urban Legends:
- Drinking a lot of cranberry juice
- Fake pee sold at smoke shops
- Putting bleach or Visine in the urine sample.
- Going in a sauna or steam room
These tests are very good at what they do but as long as you give your body enough time to flush itself you should be ok when the time comes.
What We Think about Drug Testing
It is unfortunate that work places still enforce drug testing that tests for cannabis as it has become legal in several states. Many employers have zero tolerance policies so be careful out there and now your jobs rules before you indulge in some cannabis. Hopefully sometime in the near future cannabis will no longer be screened for on drug tests.
In today’s world, smoking cannabis should be equal to drinking alcohol. You never hear about employers testing new employees for alcohol, in fact most work events have some form of alcohol available to the guests.
Unfortunately, marijuana gets a bad rep due to it being illegal for so many years. False propaganda surrounding cannabis has really shifted how society views weed. The truth is smoking cannabis is a lot safer than drinking alcohol and usually just ends with eating a whole pizza and watching funny videos.
