Edibles are a popular way to consume cannabis. But there’s no set time in which edibles will last in your system; it all depends on how much you eat and the product’s potency.
For instance, a 100 mg Cosmic Krispies edible from Galaxy Treats is likely to stay in your system longer than a 10mg gummy.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about these infused products. But we’re here to clear the air around edibles.
So, how long do edibles stay in your system anyway?
We answer this question and more here and now!
Cannabis Edibles: The Basics
In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of infused edible products.
Sure, food and drink infusions have been around for quite some time. But it’s only just recently that they began making their debut on shelves across America.
Marijuana-infused edible products like cookies, brownies, gummies, and chocolate bars are among the best-known types of marijuana edibles. Gone are the days of old when college students made half-baked brownies that tasted terrible!
Why Do People Love Edibles?
There are several reasons that mainstream edibles have become so popular. For one thing, marijuana edibles can come in fun shapes and flavors which appeal to many people, including children who might not like how marijuana smells or how it makes them feel. Thus, it’s crucial to remember – yes, even if you just smoked cannabis and are feeling foggy – that it’s always best to keep your edibles locked away and out of reach.
Edibles are also easy to consume. Catching a buzz is super easy when it involves eating a tasty treat. But some people are infusing obscure foods you might not expect.
Some restaurants are even infusing entire gourmet dining experiences!
Anyways, as with anything new and exciting, there are always some questions that come along with it. Continue reading for the answers you seek.
Purity and Potency
Purity
There is nothing more important to knowing how long marijuana edibles last in your system than how pure the edible is. While any food or beverage can have some chemical impurities present, an edible is a type of food or beverage boasting impressive THC levels.
Yes, this means an edible can come up in during a drug screen for THC metabolites! Even though the cannabinoids are going through your digestive tract, just like with inhaled THC, you’ll show up for THC metabolites for an extended period after ingestion.
Potency
Some people choose to make their own cannabis-infused foods at home so they can control how much THC is in each serving. Edible strength can cary considerably, depending on body fat, whether it has more THC or more CBD, and other variables.
How long THC lasts in your system depends on these variables too. Urine tests test for THC metabolites, which means if a person’s body is still releasing these metabolites, it’s detectable in your system longer.
In any case, anything you create at home will have far less consistency from batch to batch and product-to-product than commercially produced edibles. Of course, practice makes perfect, and if you’ve ever consumed edibles from major brands, you know that sometimes, even the big marijuana brands don’t have the recipe right!
So, How Long Do Edibles Stay in Your System
Edibles and other cannabis products can last in your system for up to a few days, depending on how much you ate, how strong it was, and how your body processes the THC consumed.
The Human Body
The human body is amazing. But your digestive system isn’t going to have you passing urine enough to rid your body of the metabolites for at least a week. Your metabolic rate will have an impact but expect the time it takes to rid your body of cannabinoids to vary significantly from others based on several factors.
Even though marijuana does not have an addictive nature, if you’re a habitual user accustomed to marijuana use, you likely will have some trouble getting the marijuana metabolites out of your system. The concentration builds up over time, which means you’ll need some time to get the metabolites out through urine and fecal matter.
Despite how long marijuana edibles last in your system, how long the effects last will vary considerably based on how much cannabinoids are consumed and their body mass index.
Contemplating The Effects of Edibles
The effects of consuming marijuana can stay in your system for about four to six hours. However, some people report feeling high for up to 12 hours. Try not to panic if this happens. It just depends on how much you eat and how quickly your body metabolizes the THC consumed.
What to Know About The Effect
If you’re new to consuming edibles, it is a good idea to start with a low dose and wait at least an hour before consuming more. As part of how long edibles last in your system, make sure you understand how long eating cannabis takes to kick in as opposed to how long smoking or vaping lasts.
It is also a good idea to plan how long you want to stay awake and active. If you are going to be busy for the next 12 hours, try not to consume a marijuana edible that will keep you high for that duration of time.
If you do find yourself feeling too high, try eating food that has some fat in it and wait for an hour. This will give time for your system to metabolize the THC out of your system.
Ingesting Cannabis vs. Smoking It
There are several variables that can affect how long the effects will take to wear off after eating an edible. You only need a few edibles in your system at first because it is easy to consume too much when you eat or drink marijuana infusions.
The cannabis plant contains many chemicals with pharmacological effects, including cannabinoids. THC is the cannabinoid responsible for producing cannabis’s psychoactive effect.
Smoking Cannabis
When smoked, THC enters the bloodstream rapidly and can produce an immediate high within minutes. How it impacts your body depends on you, but in high doses, it can even affect your cardiovascular system, resulting in anxiety, chest pain, and other side effects.
Eating Edibles
Even though some state laws allow marijuana and edibles for medical and recreational use, marijuana products aren’t a cure-all. The cannabis industry recommends its products – including infused food products and other forms – for various treatments. However, regardless of your consumption method, the metabolites will show in your urine for a while.
The onset of this high may be delayed by 30 minutes or more if it is ingested in food or drink instead of smoking because these products require digestion before entering into circulation.
This time difference has led many people to choose edibles as their preferred method of consumption, believing that they will avoid experiencing such quick highs (which can sometimes lead to anxiety or panic). But this also tends to lead consumers to eat more edibles in an attempt to get the original to hit their bodies faster.
Ultimately, this can lead to too much of a good thing, which can be a bad thing – for up to eight hours or longer, if the dose is high! And no, the solution to these problems is not to eat more edibles!
How the Body Processes Edibles
The number of times edibles stay in your system and how quickly the liver can metabolize THC are crucial considerations, too. This is how quickly the body breaks down THC into metabolites that are not psychoactive. However, these will still show up on a marijuana drug test as THC.
The liver processes the active ingredient in marijuana (THC) by breaking it down into 11-OH-THC and other metabolites. The liver then excretes these marijuana metabolites through the bile and the kidneys. Depending on how much you consume and how quickly the liver can metabolize marijuana cannabinoids, a screening could detect the active ingredients for weeks and even months.
More About Edibles
Cannabis is fat-soluble rather than water-soluble, meaning it binds to fat cells. Therefore, how long edibles stay in your system depends on how much you eat and the person’s fat calls available to store cannabinoids. The liver metabolizes THC into another chemical that moves through the bloodstream slower than when smoked.
The effects of edibles can last up to 12 hours. Some people experience negative side effects like paranoia after eating an edible. These side effects usually wear off within hours but can last as long as for some people.
Marijuana Drug Tests to Consider
Cannabis drug testing methods can also include a blood test, saliva test, and hair follicle samples — all of which can detect cannabis use within a shorter time span. These tests are not perfect and can produce false positives.
Marijuana drug testing methods include:
Urine Test
The most common method for employees to test for cannabis use is a urinalysis (urine test), which detects a metabolite called carboxy-THC (a product produced from the breakdown of THC). Cannabis can be detected in urine for around a month, depending on how frequently cannabis is used.
Saliva Tests
This testing method has been shown to detect cannabis use for between 12 and 30 hours after using it. But many experts say that’s unlikely because no studies support this claim.
A saliva test is fast and easy, but how long does cannabis stay in your saliva is not as accurate as a urine sample. The metabolites can be detected in oral fluids within hours of consumption, but how long saliva testing can detect THC depends on how quickly a person metabolizes the substance.
Ultimately, these tests are rather uncommon. The only thing with saliva testing is that it can detect the presence in the body faster if it’s a test done almost immediately after consumption.
Blood Tests
To detect THC in your blood sample, it takes just about 15 minutes to get the result. Blood testing is more sensitive than a urine test and can detect marijuana use within hours of consumption. THC’s presence in the blood typically stays consistent for about one to three days after consuming cannabis.
Blood tests, for example, could give a positive result if it’s taken too close to your last use of marijuana since THC can stay in the blood for up to 30 hours after smoking. But most of the time, you will not run into this type of drug test.
Hair Follicle Tests
Hair follicle testing may determine how long someone has used cannabis, even years after their last use. The window of detection depends on how often the person consumes marijuana and how long his or her hair grows (longer hair means a longer window).
Keep in mind, hair follicle testing isn’t common for marijuana detection. This is usually used by government agencies to determine if someone has been doing other drugs.
How to Pass a Drug Test
Drink Water
Some tricks to help eliminate the cannabinoids quicker are simple. One method is to drink lots of water. While cannabinoids are fat-soluble, drinking extra water will dilute your urine and flush toxins out.
Prepare to Pass
The cannabis drug test is not difficult to pass if you abstain from using the drug for some time before your test. However, if you don’t have time to prepare for your drug test, some products are available that will help you pass.
Head Shops Coming in Clutch
Most head shops carry these products. Some even carry products that look like a fake penis that delivers a solution at body temperature!
But if you need an immediate solution and don’t have a head shop nearby, some people claim that they have passed drug tests using someone else’s urine in a non-lubricated condom. The key to making this work is to find a way to maintain the urine’s temperature.
If the urine is too hot or too cold, the drug test administrator will not accept it, meaning you’ll need to take a new drug test another day.
Random Drug Testing
Random drug testing is a hotly debated topic. This is especially controversial when random drug tests are given to patients that use medical marijuana or use it for treatment without a prescription.
Do Employers Have The Right?
Many employers feel it’s their right to know how well employees are keeping up with the company’s rules and regulations; others view this as an invasion of privacy. As marijuana use becomes more widespread, we’re observing more employers stopping the testing.
But unfortunately, it still happens.
Cannabis Edibles in Closing
Edibles are a popular way to consume marijuana. But there is no set time in which edibles will stay in your system.
As marijuana grows in popularity and becomes more accepted as a medicine for both recreational and medical marijuana use, testing for cannabinoids will become less of a concern with time.
Until then, be sure to check how potent an edible is before consuming it, and make sure you know how long it takes for the effects to kick in. We recommend trying smaller doses at first to determine how your body reacts to edibles.
Also, be sure to check how long you have before you have to do something. There’s nothing worse than when an edible creeps up on you unexpectedly right before you have something to do!
Have Questions? We Have Answers!
Have any questions about THC edibles? Feel free to reach out! The Alpacannabis team is always happy to talk about marijuana!
