How Long Do Various Drugs Stay in Your Body?
It’s incredibly common to be wondering how long various drugs stay in your body. Either addiction or recreational drug use can lead to users in a challenging position with employment.
Traditional chemical drug tests come in a few varieties. They broadly capture a bodily fluid or other body matter and may be looking for either the presence of the drug itself, or the presence of a drug metabolite. The other category of test is impairment detection technology, which assesses various measures to determine if someone is actively experiencing impairment. These tests do not look for the presence of drugs in the body and are broadly considered to be more fair and reasonable for use in employment situations. In order to understand how long drugs are detectable in your body, you’ll need to consider what you used and which drug test you’re facing.
The length of time that a drug stays in your body, also known as its detection window, varies considerably. It depends on the type of drug, the amount of drug taken, the frequency of use, and individual factors.
Interested in learning more about how Impairment Detection Technology can revolutionize safety and respect employee rights in your workplace? Click below.
Factors Affecting Drug Detection
Type of drug: Different drugs have different detection windows. For example, marijuana metabolites can be detected in urine for at least 30 days and sometimes as long as 90 days, while cocaine is typically only detectable for 1 to 8 days.
Amount of drug taken: The more of a drug you take, the longer it will stay in your system.
Frequency of use: If you use a drug regularly, it will build up in your body and take longer to clear out.
Metabolism: People with faster metabolisms will clear drugs out of their systems more quickly than people with slower metabolisms.
Hydration: Those who are hydrated will usually eliminate drugs from their body faster than those who are chronically dehydrated.
Body weight: It depends on the substance, but people with higher body fat percentages will usually store drugs in their body for longer periods of time.
Liver function: The liver is usually responsible for metabolizing and breaking down drugs. People with compromised liver function may have difficulty clearing drugs from their systems.
Other drugs or medications: Taking other drugs or medications can interact with the way your body metabolizes certain drugs, affecting their detection windows.
Types of Drug Tests:
Impairment tests: These are tests for physical and cognitive impairment resulting from drug use. Impairment Detection Technology is somewhat new, but it’s rapidly being adopted as a better, less intrusive, and more fair way to screen for fitness for duty in employment and roadside settings.
Urine tests: Urine tests are the most common type of drug test. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to administer. However, they can only detect prior drug use, not current impairment and are considered quite invasive.
Blood tests: Blood tests are more accurate than urine tests but are the most invasive type of drug test. Blood tests are highly accurate, but with the sole exception of alcohol, they cannot detect current drug impairment. They are also the most expensive type of drug test.
Saliva tests: Saliva tests are gaining on urinalysis testing as the most popular testing method. They have a shorter detection window than urine or blood, but cannot detect current drug impairment. These tests are cheap and easy to administer.
Hair tests: Hair tests have the longest detection window of any drug test and commonly detect drug use for up to 90 days. However, they are more expensive and time-consuming than other types of tests. Their extremely long detection window is challenging for employees and they do not detect impairment.
Detection Windows by Test Type for Common Drugs:
| Gaize | Saliva | Urine | Blood | Hair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seeking Help:
If you are struggling with drug addiction, there are many resources available to help you. Please don't hesitate to reach out to the resources below for help.
Addiction resources:
SAMHSA's National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or https://www.samhsa.gov/
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): https://www.drugabuse.gov/
Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) Find a local meeting or online support group.
Al-Anon - Supports family members or friends of people with drinking problems. Find an Al-Anon meeting near you.
Alateen - Division of Al-Anon, offers help for young people and teens affected by someone else's alcoholism.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) - Assists people who want to stop abusing prescription or illegal drug. Find an NA meeting near you, access the helpline, or join an online support group.
NAR-Anon - Supports people affected by someone using and abusing drugs. Find a Nar-Anon meeting near you.
SMART Recovery - Assists teens and young people and adults with alcohol or other addictions through group therapy. Find SMART Recovery meetings near you or online.
