Introduction
Table of Contents
Marijuana or THC edibles are basically food products that contain a significant amount of cannabinoids. The effect of these edibles differs in various individuals and may remain in the body for a varied number of days, depending on how much was consumed. Typically, edibles stay in the system for 3 to 12 days, but the exact duration is dependent on how much you consume and how often you consume these edibles. In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about THC edibles and how they affect your body.
What Are THC Edibles?
Edibles have become one of the most popular forms of cannabis and are preferred by many users. The reason for its popularity is that edibles produce a long-lasting psychoactive effect without requiring you to fill your lungs with smoke, and they taste delicious. Edibles usually look and taste like regular candy; they are created by infusing food with THC concentrates like resin, distillate, or hash oils. They include food products like brownies, cookies, candy bars, gummies or mint, and any other ingestible item like drinks or capsules. The variety of edibles has widely increased since they became legal and has become a preferred choice by many users.
How Does Your Body Process Edibles?
Just like regular food, edibles work their way into the digestive system. As it is digested, the cannabis concentrates move to the liver, where delta-9 THC (the primary psychoactive ingredient) is converted to 11-hydroxy THC. The edibles take effect once it has been converted and is more psychoactive than smoking a joint. According to cannabis experts, 11-Hydroxy THC is more potent than Delta 9 because it easily passes through the blood-brain barrier, taking longer for the body to eliminate.
Unlike smoking or vaping, edibles take a much longer time to affect many people, mainly because of the digestion process, which takes a bit of time. When smoking or vaping, the THC goes directly into the bloodstream and takes about five minutes to hit. With edibles, it takes a much longer time for the edibles to get into your bloodstream and be removed through urine. Some edibles like chocolate or candy may hit much faster because they melt quickly in your mouth, making it easier for the THC to get into your blood.
How Long Do THC Edibles Stay in Your Body?
Typically, marijuana edibles take a longer time to process than inhaled THC. When marijuana is smoked, the THC in your system declines as soon as its effect wears off. Consuming THC edibles, on the other hand, takes about a day to see any reduction in the THC levels. The length of time that THC remains in your system depends on a number of factors.
One of the factors that determine how long THC would last in your body is your body type. THC from cannabis is stored in your fat cells and flushed out of the body through urine. Individuals with a low-fat percentage pee more often, meaning that THC easily gets flushed from their system. On the other hand, users with a higher fat percentage will have more difficulty getting rid of the THC in a short time. This is why people tend to exercise more when detoxing for a drug test.
Another factor is how often you use marijuana. For casual users that only consume once in a while, it will take about a week or two to completely get rid of the THC. Habitual users, on the other hand, consume a higher amount of THC daily, and it’ll take months to clear it out of your system. The part of your system being tested is also a determinant factor. Some experts say THC in the blood could stay up to 3 – 4 hours; in saliva, it lasts up to 72 hours, up to 30 days in urine, and remains in your hair for up to 90 days.
Do Edibles Show in a Drug Test?
Yes, THC content from edibles absolutely shows in a drug test. Whether you smoke or ingest cannabis, the THC gets into your bloodstream and is distributed among a few tissues like your hair, saliva, kidney (urine and sweat). As discussed earlier, these tissues each have a different timeline
- Blood: 3-4 hours
- Saliva: 24- 72 hours
- Urine: up to 30 days
- Hair: up to 90 days
How do you get THC Edibles out of your body faster?
There’s really no true answer on how to get rid of THC edibles from your system faster. We could only give you a few suggestions that may speed up the metabolism process and help get rid of it. The best way to get rid of THC is to pee as much as possible; this may require you to drink a lot of fluid. You could also exercise a lot as it will help burn fat cells, accelerating the removal of THC from your system.
Different types of test on how to detect THC in our body:
- Detection in Urine: THC from edibles can be detected in urine for approximately 3 to 30 days, with the timeframe depending on the frequency of cannabis consumption. Occasional users might have detectable THC for about 3 days, while it can remain detectable for 10 to 15 days or longer in daily users, extending to 30 days or more for heavy users.
- Detection in Blood: Blood tests have a shorter detection window, typically 1 to 2 days, but this can extend up to 25 days for regular or heavy users.
- Detection in Saliva: Saliva tests can detect THC for up to 1 to 3 days in occasional users, and potentially up to 29 days in heavy users. However, saliva tests are less reliable for detecting the use of edibles compared to other forms of cannabis consumption.
- Detection in Hair: THC from edibles can remain detectable in hair for up to 90 days. Hair tests are less common and are generally used in specific contexts such as clinical trials.
Conclusion
For more on THC edibles, read
How To Determine Thc Content In Edibles‘