How Long Do Drugs Stay in Your System?
Drugs affect everyone differently. Similarly, the amount of time different drugs will remain in your system depends significantly on multiple different factors. Whether you are concerned about passing a drug test or considering a detox, we’ll tell you what to expect.
How Long Do Drugs Stay in Your System?
Drugs affect everyone differently. Similarly, the amount of time different drugs will remain in your system depends significantly on multiple different factors. Whether you are concerned about passing a drug test or considering a detox, we’ll tell you what to expect.
Table of Contents
Did you know that in 2019 clinics that dealt with pain management, substance abuse, or primary care saw significant increases in urine samples that tested positive for drugs that were potentially fatal? Around four percent of these samples were positive for meth, and five percent were positive for fentanyl. This was an increase from 2013 for both drugs.
How long do drugs stay in your system, though? The answer to that question is more complicated than you might think. For example, for fentanyl, the individual tested may have used anywhere from hours before the test to 90 days prior. The answer is dependent on a variety of factors.
Knowing how long a drug will stay in your system can help give you answers about the drug detox process as well as the detection time for drug tests.
Factors That Influence Drug Detection Time
The factors that influence drug detection time are about more than the drug you take. Because everyone is unique, the amount of time it takes for a drug to clear out of your system will be in part dependent on you.
The various factors that can influence this include:
- Type of drug used
- Amount of drug used
- The drug's half-life
- Drug tolerance
- Metabolic rate
- Medical conditions that impact drug elimination
- Frequency of use
- Ethnicity
- Weight
- Hydration levels
- Body mass
- Physical activity
- The presence of other drugs or alcohol
Frequency and Length of Use
How often you use drugs has an impact on how long they stay in your system. Your body will need more time to clear out the drugs as your level builds up.
For example, a small shot of liquor will typically take your body about one hour to metabolize. However, a pint of beer will take about two hours.
In addition, individuals who have been using drugs tend to take more time to detox.
Metabolism
When you take a drug, it gets metabolized by your kidney and liver. How efficiently your kidney and liver metabolize the drugs determines how long it takes to detox.
If your kidney and livers are more efficient, your body will be able to detox from the drugs more quickly.
Age
In healthcare, when you look at prescribing drugs to the older population, there’s a saying, start low and go slow. This is because as you get older, your kidney and liver don’t metabolize drugs as quickly as they used to.
This means as you get older, the drugs will linger in your system for a longer amount of time.
Body Fat Percentage
Certain drugs will be lipid-soluble. For example, amphetamines and methamphetamines are highly lipid-soluble. Because of this, these drugs can get absorbed rapidly and reach peak levels within two hours.
However, this also allows the drug to bind to body fat. When that occurs, your body will take a longer amount of time to process the drug. You will often see drugs stay in women’s systems longer than men’s systems because they typically have a higher percentage of body fat.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active ingredient in marijuana, is extremely fat-soluble, which means it is stored in the body’s fatty tissues. As a result, Marijuana can be detected in a person’s system for weeks after it is used.
Type of Drug
The type of drug you use will impact how long it stays in your system. This is because various drugs have different half-lives. A drug’s half-life shows long it will take for the concentration in your body to drop by 50 percent.
Drugs with longer half-lives will stay in your system for longer, and, therefore, they can get detected by drug tests for longer periods of time. A drug’s half-life can also help o determine the onset of withdrawal symptoms.
Understanding Drug Half-Lives
The half-life of a drug is the time it takes for the amount of a drug’s active substance in your body to reduce by half. This is an important factor in determining a drug’s dosage because it helps predict when a drug’s active effects will wear off.
The actual half-life of a drug varies from person to person depending on how well a particular drug is distributed around a person’s body and how quickly a person excretes the drug.
Some prescription drugs are designed to be fast-acting while others are long-lasting. Typically, the long-lasting drugs will stay in a person’s system for longer.
When it comes to illicit and recreational drugs, the half-lives are generally related to how long the active effects of the drug last. For instance, Ecstasy has a half-life of 8-hours, while cocaine has a half-life of 1 hour.
How Long Do Drugs Stay in Your System?
It’s time to get down into the details of how long different drugs stay in your system. Remember, even with the estimates we will discuss, the time frame could differ based on various factors that might apply to you.
Marijuana
Marijuana is one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States; 48.2 million Americans will use it at least once in a 12 month period. While recreational use is now legal in many states, there are still states where it is illegal, and employers can still require drug tests to be clean from marijuana.
Drug tests for marijuana look for THC. THC is the chemical in marijuana that causes a high. Marijuana is a lipid-soluble drug; this means that body fat will impact the drug detection window.
Other factors for marijuana include how much you use and how often you use it. The various tests will also influence the detection window.
Urine Test
- Up To 30 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 4 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 72 Hours
Synthetic Marijuana
Synthetic marijuana also gets called “spice” or “K2.” This is a man-made chemical that gets sprayed on dried plants and can be smoked or vaporized. These drugs act on the various cannabinoid receptors in the brain.
How long this drug remains in your system is largely dependent on how often it gets used.
Urine Test
- Up To 72 Hours
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 48 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 48 Hours
How Long Does It Take To Detox From Marijuana?
One of the biggest arguments you will see for Marijuana legalization is that it’s not addictive. However, this simply isn’t true. You can become addicted to marijuana and experience withdrawal and detox.
For heavy marijuana users, you’ll often begin to experience withdrawals the first day after quitting. The symptoms will typically get worse over a 48 to 72 hour period and then begin to improve over a two-week time frame.
Once the third week hits, many of the symptoms are gone; however, some people might still feel the effects for months after they quit.
Opioids
Almost 50,000 people die every year from opioid overdoses. If you’re using opioids and ready to quit, it will take some time for your system to be fully free from these drugs.
Opioids can be both prescription and illegal drugs. Some of the drugs you will see in this category include fentanyl, heroin, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine.
Factors that play a significant role in the detection window for opioids include frequency and quantity of use, the specific drug, metabolism, and body fat.
Morphine
Urine Test
- Up To 3 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 3 Days
Saliva Test
- Up To 3 Days
Codeine
Urine Test
- Up To 3 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 3 Days
Saliva Test
- Up To 3 Days
Fentanyl
Urine Test
- Up To 3 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 2 Days
Saliva Test
- Not Reliable
Heroin
Urine Test
- Up To 3 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 6 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 1 Hour
Hydrocodone
Urine Test
- Up To 4 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 36 Hours
Methadone
Urine Test
- Up To 12 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 10 Days
Oxycodone
Urine Test
- Up To 4 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 4 Days
Propoxyphene
Urine Test
- Up To 10 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Not Reliable
Saliva Test
- Not Reliable
Tramadol
Urine Test
- Up To 72 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 48 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 48 Hours
How Long Does It Take To Detox From Opioids?
When you stop taking opioids, the withdrawal symptoms can, at times, be dangerous. It’s essential to consult with a doctor and discuss whether or not your detox should be medically monitored.
Typically what you will see is that symptoms of withdrawal start between 8 and 24 hours after your last use. Those symptoms will get worse, and the worst of it will be two to three days after your last use. Symptoms will commonly cease between four and ten days after your last use.
Benzodiazepines
Thes drugs often get prescribed for anxiety or insomnia. The abuse of these drugs has been increasing, and there are many factors that play into that, including self-medicating. Newer benzodiazepines are more likely to get abused than earlier generation ones.
Some common benzodiazepines include xanax, valium, and klonopin. The detection window for these drugs can be longer if you engage in repeated use.
Ativan
Urine Test
- Up To 6 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 30 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 3 Days
Saliva Test
- Up To 8 Hours
Librium
Urine Test
- Up To 6 Weeks
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 48 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 10 Days
Valium
Urine Test
- Up To 6 Weeks
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 48 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 10 Days
Restoril
Urine Test
- Up To 6 Weeks
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Xanax
Urine Test
- Up To 4 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 2 Days
How Long Does It Take To Detox From Benzodiazepines?
Each benzodiazepine has a different half-life which can change some of the factors of detox. However, generally, you will notice that withdrawal symptoms begin around 24 hours after last use.
Symptoms can last anywhere from a few days to several months. This depends on how long you used it and the strength of the drug used. Unfortunately, a longer withdrawal frame isn’t uncommon.
Stimulants
Stimulants are another drug that comes in legal and illegal forms. Stimulants are often proscribed to treat individuals with narcolepsy or ADHD. Prescription drugs for ADHD are commonly abused.
Some of the drugs that are in this category include cocaine, methamphetamines, and ecstasy.
Ecstasy
Urine Test
- Up To 4 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 2 Days
Saliva Test
- Up To 2 Days
Cocaine
Urine Test
- Up To 3 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 2 Days
Methamphetamines
Urine Test
- Up To 1 Week
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 3 Days
Saliva Test
- Up To 4 Days
Adderall
Urine Test
- Up To 72 Hours
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 46 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 50 Hours
Vyvanse
Urine Test
- Up To 4 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 8 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 48 Hours
Ritalin
Urine Test
- Up To 2 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 12 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 48 Hours
How Long Does It Take To Detox From Stimulants?
When you begin a detox from stimulants, symptoms can begin anywhere from a few hours to several days after the last use. The most intense symptoms will commonly occur about a week into detox.
After two weeks of withdrawal, symptoms that persist are considered post-acute withdrawal symptoms. This can last anywhere from 12 to 18 months. The length of time depends on the person, but the severity will decrease over time.
Alcohol
Collectively Americans lose 2.7 million years of life from drinking excessively. Drinking can have significant impacts on your physical and mental health.
While many drug tests do not test for alcohol, there are tests that can confirm abstinence from alcohol.
Urine Test
- Up To 48 Hours
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 6 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 3 Days
How Long Does It Take To Detox From Alcohol?
The amount of time required to detox from alcohol depends on factors like your age, weight, and drinking habits. The amount you drink will determine if symptoms will begin a few hours or a few days after your last drink.
Minor symptoms will usually show up two to six hours after you stop drinking and peak in one to three days. However, for heavier drinkers, this time frame can extend and last a week.
While persistent symptoms are rare, they do exist. This can cause you to experience symptoms of withdrawal for a month or more.
Hallucinogens
These are drugs that alter your awareness and can cause you to see and hear things that are not there. There are two categories of hallucinogens, dissociative drugs (e.g., PCP) and classic hallucinogens (e.g., LSD).
The length of time these drugs are in your system is dependent on what you take.
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)
Urine Test
- Up To 4 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 12 Hours
Saliva Test
- Not Reliable
Ketamine
Urine Test
- Up To 11 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 4 Days
Saliva Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Mescaline
Urine Test
- Up To 3 Days
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 10 Days
Phencyclidine (PCP)
Urine Test
- Up To 4 Weeks
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Saliva Test
- Up To 10 Days
Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms)
Urine Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Hair Follicle Test
- Up To 90 Days
Blood Test
- Up To 24 Hours
Saliva Test
- Not Reliable
How Long Does It Take To Detox From Hallucinogens?
When you take classical hallucinogens, there are no withdrawal symptoms. You might feel restless or tired after you come down, but these aren’t considered withdrawal symptoms.
In contrast, people who take dissociative hallucinogens can experience withdrawals. The withdrawal timeline is dependent on the hallucinogen used.
Typically symptoms of withdrawal end a few days after the last use; however, in more extreme cases, individuals can experience depression and loss of pleasure for around seven to ten days.
Can You Speed Up the Process and "Test Clean?"
Are you reading this article because you’re worried you’re going to test positive on a drug test? A simple internet search is sure to pop up dozens of results with methods to use to “beat a drug test.”
But, while there are many potential methods advertised, they rarely or never work out. Lab techs have been trained to look for signs that someone has attempted to dilute or manipulate a sample.
If you’re struggling with substance abuse issues, the best way to detox is to stop using. Keep in mind, though, for many drugs; you want to work with your doctor to ensure you detox safely.
Detoxing From Drugs and Alcohol
Side effects that can occur during detox are largely dependent on your medical conditions, the substances you use, and how long you have been using. However, some substances do come with an increased risk.
Severe Symptoms of Withdrawal
- Severe confusion and disorientation
- Seizures
- Depression and anger
- Self-harm
- Euphoria
- Aggression towards others
- Death
Detoxing isn’t easy; however, it’s an essential first step. It’s important to consult with a medical provider to set up a plan to detox versus just going “cold turkey.”
Creating a Plan for Detox
If you’re ready to begin the process of quitting, meet with your medical provider. You’ll need to be prepared to discuss your history of drug use with them. They could ask for information like:
- Substances used
- Intensity of use
- Frequency of use
- Duration of use
- Prior attempts to detox
- Preexisting physical and mental health issues
All of these things will factor into your detox plan. If you’re at a higher risk for dangerous withdrawal side effects, your provider will likely recommend an inpatient medical detox. If they believe you can detox as an outpatient, you can discuss with them when you should seek medical help and your support system.
No matter what you do, don’t go through this process alone. Allow your support system to help you as you begin detoxing and your path to recovery.
What About Rapid Detox?
Rapid detox does exist for opiates. However, it’s often expensive and dangerous. They typically involve a combination of heavy sedation coupled with an “opiate blocker” like Naltrexone. These programs usually cost around 10,000 dollars and aren’t covered by insurance.
Side effects of rapid detox can include:
- Heart attack
- Paranoia
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Choking
- High body temperature
- Infection
- Death
What Happens After Detox?
Once you’ve completed detox, it’s important not to stop. While detox will help you get the substance out of your system, you’ll need a treatment program.
This can include inpatient or outpatient treatment. If you have a substance abuse and mental health disorder, it’s essential to find a treatment center that offers treatment for dual diagnosis.
After detox, your treatment can include therapy, medication, relapse prevention groups, AA or NA, group therapy, life skills training, etc. You and your provider will work together to create a plan that works for you.
Professional Help is Available
How long do drugs stay in your system? There’s no one answer to that question. It depends not only on the substance you have used but also on a variety of other factors.
While detox isn’t easy, it’s worth it. Are you ready to begin the process?
Wellness Retreat and Recovery Center provides a serene, peaceful, and healing environment to allow you to focus on recovery from addiction in comfort. Allow us to walk with you on your journey to wellness. Contact us today for more information.
