How Long Do Some Drugs Actually Stay in Your Body?

We are not encouraging anyone to use drugs, but we are also not going to pretend that our readers are not doing anything. If you do this and need to get a drug test to work, for example, it can be helpful to know how long certain drugs stay in the places they are most likely to test: in your urine, blood, and hair follicles.

Thisvideo from Business Insider is a quick and dirty breakdown of the estimated time certain drugs will stay in your body after they were last used, but be aware that drug metabolites may stay longer than indicated. The timing for you depends on your age, height, weight, the amount of drugs you are taking, how often you are taking them, your general health, and even your hydration status . This is how it looks:

Alcohol

  • Urine: 3-5 days
  • Blood: 10-12 hours
  • Hair: up to 90 days

Marijuana

  • Urine: 7-30 days
  • Blood: about 2 weeks
  • Hair: up to 90 days

Amphetamines

  • Urine: 1-3 days
  • Blood: about 12 hours
  • Hair: up to 90 days

Methamphetamines

  • Urine: 3-6 days
  • Blood: 24-36 hours
  • Hair: up to 90 days

Cocaine

  • Urine: 3-4 days
  • Blood: 1-2 days
  • Hair: up to 90 days

Heroin

  • Urine: 3-4 days
  • Blood: up to 12 hours
  • Hair: up to 90 days

LSD

  • Urine: 1-3 days
  • Blood: 2-3 hours
  • Hair: up to 3 days

MDMA

  • Urine: 3-4 days
  • Blood: 1-2 days
  • Hair: up to 90 days

Some jobs are routinely tested for THC (the active ingredient in marijuana), cocaine, opiates (heroin, vicodin, percocet, etc.), amphetamines, andphencyclidine (PCP). The test usually involves urinating into a cup. On more rare occasions, they also test for saliva, blood, or hair.

These are not hard ranges, especially if you are a chronic and heavy user. For example, a first-time weed smoker may have a urine sample taken within a few days. However, long-term and heavy smokers may need to wait at least 10 days. It’s best to just stop using if you know you need to get tested periodically.

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