Marijuana can have many benefits. However, when you smoke weed it stays in your system and is detectable for days, weeks or even months depending on the type of drug test being used.

If you discover you have a marijuana drug test coming up you may well be looking for ways to get weed out of your system fast. Obviously the first thing you need to do if you know you are likely to be drug testing is to stop smoking. Once you have stopped smoking the body will naturally start to rid itself of THC and its metabolites.

The amount of time you need to rid your body of THC and its metabolites depend on a number of factors including the type of drug test, your marijuana consumption, the type of marijuana, how long ago you stopped smoking, your level of body fat and your general health and metabolism.

For example, urine testing can detect marijuana for around 3 days after marijuana for the first time or infrequent users but that goes up to 5-7 days for cannabis users that smoke 3-4 times a week and 30 days for daily users.

Different strains of weed have different levels of THC. Medical marijuana for example often has lower THC. You need a medical recommendation letter to purchase medicinal cannabis and you can get one here.

THC and it’s metabolites are also fat-soluble meaning they get stored in the body’s fat cells and released back into the bloodstream over time. The more fat cells and the more frequent the use the more drug metabolites that will be stored in the body.

Tests for Marijuana

The detection window, the time frame during which a drug can be detected in a biological sample, varies depending on the test used. THC stays in your system for quite a long time compared to other drugs but some tests can only detect it for a short time. A breath test, for example, will only give a reliable test result for a few hours whereas hair tests can give a positive result for up to three months.

Hair Follicle Tests

Hair drug tests are particularly difficult, especially for habitual users, as the detection window is up to three months. There are detox products that claim to be able to strip THC metabolites from the hair follicle but there is little to no scientific evidence to back up these claims.

If you have no way to avoid a hair test then this might be something you wish to try, but there is certainly no guarantee. Bleaching has also been shown to reduce the number of metabolites but not remove them completely meaning you could still test positive for a follicle test.

Obviously if you have no hair then this means they cannot take the test but this tends to look suspicious, particularly if you had hair at the interview.

Luckily collecting hair samples is not the most popular testing method for employers as it is relatively expensive.

Mouth Swab Drug Test

A saliva drug test can detect recent drug use usually up to 24 hours but potentially up to 72 hours. They may be used for roadside or employment drug screening .

Urine Drug Tests

A urine test is the most common drug test you are likely to encounter particularly related to employment. This can detect marijuana for over a month if you are a heavy user and testing may be scheduled at short notice.

Masking the THC in your system – Backup plans

The natural detoxification process can take 4-6 weeks depending on your body, how often you have been using and for how long.

Once you have stopped smoking you can support this process by generally being healthy, drinking plenty of water, exercising and eating plenty of fibre. There are herbal detox pills you can get to support the liver, and even having a sauna can help support the detox process.

However none of these are a quick fix. If you need to get weed out of your system fast what you are really aiming to do is pass the test and the same rules do not apply.

Test Yourself at Home

You can test yourself with a home test kit. Home drug testing doesn’t guarantee the same result in your actual test but can give you peace of mind, or encourage you to postpone or find an alternative if you have a test coming up.

Passing a Urine Test – Dilution method

A urine test looks for the level of THC metabolites in your urine and a test will come back negative if you have below a certain level, usually around 50ng/ml. Thus essentially all you need to do is sufficiently dilute your urine to below this level. Tests are designed to look out for this though and so for this to work you need to dilute your urine without it appearing to be diluted.

However, to do this you need to do more than just drink water. You need to increase your water consumption as well as supplement with creatine and vitamin b. You can buy these separately or purchase a specially designed day detox drink.

The idea is that by drinking higher amounts of water than usual you can flush out the THC and reduce the concentration of THC in your urine samples. Obviously this is not a foolproof method.

Other tips

Don’t exercise as this burns fat cells and releases more THC metabolites into your system. If you have a week it makes sense to exercise but make sure you stop 24 hours before your test to avoid a spike.

Don’t give the beginning or end of your urine stream as this contains higher levels of metabolites. Fill the cup midstream for the best chance of passing your test.

Substitution – Fake Urine

If you are a heavy user or have a high BMI fast-tracking by diluting your urine may not work in which case you have the option of substituting with synthetic urine or using clean urine from somebody else that isn’t a user.

You can purchase a powdered urine kit online which you can then give as a sample instead of your actual urine. If you are using synthetic urine you will need to make sure you warm it up to body temperature as drug testing facilities will test the temperature of samples.