In order to find out will smoking one joint show up in a drug test we need to first review some different types of drug tests. Different kinds of tests produce varying levels of accuracy and so the answer to our question isn’t really that straight forward. It is important to note that THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol, can stay in your body for several days and even weeks. So consuming marijuana before a test increases the risk of it showing up on drug tests.
Drug test for THC
There are several different kinds of tests that can in fact notice traces of thc. Because the substance stays in your body for a long time it can be detected in your blood, saliva, urine and even your hair follicles. Other than the different testing types there are several key bodily factors that can also influence the results of a thc drug test. Everything from your body weight to the sensitivity of the drug test can have an effect on results.
Saliva drug tests
Because of the way your body metabolizes, saliva tests aren’t the most reliable kind of test you can encounter. Saliva can keep traces of the substance for only a couple of days and after that the traces are all but gone. However, saliva drug tests are not as frequent as the other tests we have previously mentioned due to their short detection period.
Urine drug tests
Both urine and blood tests are capable of detecting traces of thc even days after consumption of the substance. The urine drug test is used frequently in workplace environments as a cheap and accurate way of detecting drug use or addiction. Given the way your body stores thc this increases the risk of thc showing up on the drug tests.
Will smoking one joint show up in a drug test?
Studies have shown that a single joint has the capability of leaving traces of thc in your body for three days. However, this also varies depending on how much you smoke and how often. For those smoking for the first time the effects do last only three days, however someone who smokes once a day will find that drug tests can find traces even after 30 days.
As mentioned before, results can also vary when we take into account different testing methods. So, while a urine drug test might show traces of thc for 3-30 days the same thing cannot be said for saliva tests, which can only detect thc for a couple of days. In order to be sure the tests are working fine and the results are right, they must be sent for evaluation at a local laboratory.
How your body influences a drug test
There are numerous factors that might influence a drug test, these range from body fat, hidration, sex and excersize and more.
- Body Fat: since marijuana is stored in your body fat, people with higher amounts of fat may metabolize the substance slower than those that have less.
- Sex: the male population typically has smaller amounts of body fat so they have can metabolize marijuana quicker than females.
- Hydration: while a good hydrated body will most likely not affect a drug test, a dehydrated one will surely show traces of thc in the body.
- Exercise: Taking the time to exercise before a drug test will most likely increase the thc detection rate in the test.
- Metabolism: people who have a faster metabolism can process thc much quicker than usual and so the traces of the substance are much less visible in these cases.
It is important to note that a drug test tests for thc, and not marijuana. The amount of thc a person consumes will determine the noticeability in testing. THC is cumulative, which means that if someone smokes once a day or more the amounts of the substance in his or her body are significantly increased. The strength of each dose also varies, with a lack of sensitive laboratory equipment you cannot determine the thc levels in th marijuana effectively.
How to clean up your body from marijuana and thc?
There really isn’t a quick fix to this problem, while exercising may increase your metabolism and help with the thc clearance if it is conducted too close to a test it may have an adverse effect. Hydration may help you conceal the amount of thc you have in your body, especially if your thc levels are just on the border of being “heightened”.
However, this method really can’t help you completely hide the thc from drug tests. Hydration is important though, as a dehydrated body will increase the detection of thc as stated before. The only real way to “trick” a drug test is to make sure that there is enough time between consumption and the test itself. If your test is in a day or two, and you have just smoked a joint odds are that the test will find traces of thc.
For the vast majority of people all traces of marijuana will disappear within 30 days or so. For frequent users this might be different and the thc levels may drop off in ten days. What this shows us is there is no real way of determining how fast an individual’s metabolism will clear out all traces of thc. Home tests can be a way to figure out how much thc you have in your body before the official workplace testing comes around. However, there still has to be a waiting period to clean up the body.
Conclusion
If you’re interested to learn more about drugs and drug tests, how they work and where you can find them, we publish a blog once a week discussing such topics. Apart from that we offer a wide range of affordable and reliable drug testing cups, swabs and several other items in our store.
