How long does CBD stay in your system after ingestion?

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is undoubtedly growing in popularity and availability. More states than ever are making it readily available to the adult public in many forms, from beverages to pills, infused edibles, tinctures, and more.

Data shows that one in three Americans has used CBD and more than half of the population is already familiar with CBD products. People use CBD for many reasons, including pain relief, sleep, anxiety, or general well-being.

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Meanwhile, a 2019 survey by Brightfield Group found that 44% of CBD consumers spend between $20 and $80 a month on CBD products.

But every day there are new CBD users everywhere. After all, what’s not to love about CBD? It is non-high, has powerful healing properties, and helps fight inflammation and many other ailments.

However, some people are still concerned about whether or not it can be detected on a blood test and how long it stays in the system.

CBD vs. THC

To get to the bottom of the answer, it’s also important to understand the differences between THC and CBD.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the psychoactive compound in the marijuana plant. But CBD products are derived from hemp, a high-CBD cousin of cannabis. Because industrial hemp is high in CBD, authentic CBD products can only be obtained from it, even though both plants look similar, but biologically, the chemical composition of each plant is extremely different.

Because of this, this cannabinoid is detectable in body fluids when consuming THC products for long periods of time and is frequently tested in various drug tests, e.g. B. some that are required for work.

drug testing

If you are concerned about failing a drug test, it is recommended that you consume CBD isolates, which are the safest type of CBD on the market. CBD isolates are the purest form of CBD available, made without any other botanicals, not even in trace amounts.

Urine tests can detect THC three days to three months after use, while saliva tests can detect it 24 hours after use. Hair drug tests can detect it for up to 90 days. Meanwhile, blood tests can detect THC up to 36 hours after use.

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However, drug testing does not screen for CBD because it is non-intoxicating unless a lab test specifically designed to detect CBD is used. There are dozens of different types of drug tests, each with different cutoffs. Legally, hemp CBD products contain 0.3% THC so it will not be detected unless you are consuming extremely high amounts or the drug test is designed to detect CBD, although this is rare for legal and labor reasons.

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How long CBD stays in your system

You may still be wondering how long it will stay in your system and how long its effects will be felt. There is no standard or universal time frame that applies to everyone as there are so many different factors that influence it, many of which depend on our unique body chemistry as well as how and how often we consume CBD.

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Generally, it takes about a day for CBD to be completely flushed out of your system once you’ve taken a dose. The more you consume it and in higher doses, the longer it takes for your body to flush it out.

Other factors that affect how long CBD stays in your system include:

• Your metabolism, weight and age
• frequency of use
• Last consumption day
• dosage
• consumption method

Because CBD is fat-soluble, it is stored in the body’s fat cells rather than in water cells. For this reason, the influence of your body mass index (BMI) has an impact on how quickly it is metabolized after ingestion and how quickly it is flushed out. The higher your weight and body mass, the longer it takes to exit your system.

Additionally, CBD is available in many forms, so how you administer it will affect how long it takes to feel its effects, how long it lasts, and how long CBD stays in your system. Vaporization is the fastest way to get CBD into the body and leaves the body just as quickly. The onset of effects of CBD tinctures and oils is slightly longer, perhaps 15-20 minutes, although their effects can last up to 6 hours. Because oral products like edibles and capsules need to find their way through the digestive system, it can take as little as 30 minutes to start, but sometimes as long as 90 minutes. Edibles also take a little longer to exit the system.

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For those looking for localized pain relief, topical CBD products are a great option. You can apply anti-inflammatory CBD creams to muscles or joints, wherever there is pain, it provides therapeutic effects only in that area. In addition, CBD topicals do not enter the bloodstream, so they do not show up in blood tests.

A 2016 study showed that participants consuming CBD in flower, oil, and capsule forms still had detectable levels of CBD after 2 hours. When the urine was retested 24 hours later, no traces of CBD were detectable.

Conclusion

When buying CBD products, always make sure to buy from a reputable manufacturer that offers third-party lab testing to ensure it comes from the hemp plant. Hemp plants contain only 0.3% THC, which is a trace amount of the drug that won’t show up in a drug test.

In the event that you test a false positive for a workplace drug test while consuming CBD, you can tell your employer that you are consuming CBD products.

At the end of the day, it’s always safest to look for a Certificate of Analysis (CoA) from CBD manufacturers before using. A CoA gives you valuable information such as the CBD and THC levels in the product, as well as any impurities found.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.