It is no wonder that smoking any illegal drugs will show up on a drug test irrespective of their amount. If a person could test positive due to secondhand smoke, it is evident that smoking one joint will not make any difference. The only relief is when compared to other rigorous drug addicts, you could have more chances of clearing the drug test if you follow certain precautions before your drug test.
A person who has unintentionally smoked a joint may wonder if it would show up on a drug test. It might be due to circumstance or due to compulsion. If you are in such a situation, you need not worry. It happens to most of them, and instead of worrying about what has happened, you should focus on how to get out of it.
In this blog, we will go through various aspects of smoking a joint and explore whether it would show up on the drug test.
Table of Contents
- What is a Joint?
- What Is The Impact Of “One Joint”?
- How Long Does One Joint Stay In Your System After Smoking?
- Does Smoking One Joint Get Detected On The Drug Test?
- How To Flush Out One Joint Drug Traces From The System
What is a Joint?
Crunched or ground cannabis rolled in a strong tissue paper is called a joint. The joint contains only cannabis rolled in paper, unlike blunts that contain tobacco blended with cannabis.
Smoking cannabis or weed may be harmful and cause breathing issues, chronic cough, frequent lung infections, etc., similar to tobacco users. Second-hand smoke could also be grievous than the smoke inhaled directly. Cannabis smoke contains many toxins and carcinogens and may cause serious physical and mental health issues.
What Is The Impact Of “One Joint”?
According to some studies, one joint of cannabis is similar to smoking 20 cigarettes at a time. In other words, though the impact of one joint is minimal compared to hardcore smoking, but based on the study, a person who smokes one joint consistently for a course of 5 or more years is 5.7 times more susceptible to getting lung cancer.
People smoke joints for ecstasy. It does not contain a specific weight as it may vary based on the roll made, varying from 0.25 to 1 gram. According to the study, the average weight of one joint may be approximately 0.43 grams. It may seem low, but continuous use over time may cumulate. The drug traces would stay in your bloodstream for a prolonged time leading to physical and mental health problems and, in worst cases, may lead to death. Even a pinch of cannabis consumed for a prolonged period may have a considerable impact.
Let’s read further to know how long the traces after smoking a joint may linger in the system.
How Long Does One Joint Stay In Your System After Smoking?
If you are a first-time user or an infrequent user, it will take at least three days (48 hours) after consumption for the body to reduce it to half of the original amount of THC consumed and so on. Hence, you have to calculate the number of days depending on the total amount of cannabis consumed.
For instance, assume you have consumed 1 gram of cannabis containing about 200 mg of THC (since you will lose most of the cannabis through smoke between puffs), metabolism will reduce it to half (100 mg) the original amount a day later in the body. Continuing with this logic, it will be a quarter (50 mg) of the original amount 48 hours after consumption and so on. Therefore, you may calculate (depending on the amount consumed) approximately how many days it will take for the drug traces to be eliminated from the system after last use.
Bear in mind that the drug traces will remain in the body irrespective of the amount of drug you take. To be precise, whether you smoke one joint or more, the drug traces will linger in the bloodstream depending on the amounts and frequency of the drug you consume.
While you smoke, the THC metabolites will directly get into your lungs. Since the lungs have an enormous amount of alveoli, the THC metabolites would be absorbed by them and then sent into the bloodstream. The oxygenated blood that travels all over the body takes the THC drug traces along. As the drug traces are present all over the body, including the hair follicles, it would be detected during the drug test. The drug traces will remain in your body until it gets completely metabolized and flushed out of the body system.
Since THC is lipid-soluble, it gets stored in the body fat rather than getting expelled out. Hence, if you have excess body fat, it will take more time to eliminate metabolites. Other factors such as slow metabolism and improper hydration may also prolong the time for the metabolites to be flushed out of the body.
If you have an upcoming drug test, try exercising vigorously to burn out fat and increase metabolism to speed up flushing. As a precaution, you could use over-the-counter drug testing kits to see if you still have drug traces hanging around in your system.
Does Smoking One Joint Get Detected On The Drug Test?
Yes. After smoking one joint, there is a possibility for the THC traces to be detected within 24 hours through mouth swab drug test or within a few days on urine sample after last use. Smoking one joint will also get stored in the body even if the amount of cannabis consumed is small. There is always a possibility for the traces to be detected since some laboratories still follow low threshold levels for detection. It is, however, relieving that smoking one joint would not remain in the system for long. As stated above, they do get eliminated after a particular amount of time.
- Kidneys would flush out drug traces within 1 to 2 weeks of drug consumption.
- The traces in your blood would take nearly 4 to 6 weeks to get expelled.
- Your hair would be taking a lot of time, say about 90 days.
Your body will take its own time to flush out drug toxins naturally, but what if you have an upcoming drug test. If you have no time to eliminate toxins naturally, you may try some of the proven precautionary methods to speed up the metabolic process. Bear in mind that instant DIY methods will not flush out the traces completely but rather reduce the traces to some extent that could go undetected on a drug test.
Read further how to flush out one joint drug traces from your system.
How To Flush Out One Joint Drug Traces From The System?
You may naturally detox by drinking large amounts of water, consuming a healthy diet, and exercising if you have enough time before the drug test. In case you are required to take a drug test on short notice, you don’t need to panic. You may try various proven methods, chewable tablets, drinks, shampoos, etc., based on the type of drug test involved. With some basic techniques like Jerry J or the Macujo method, you could try eliminating the THC metabolites from your body.
You may beat the drug test even after smoking one joint by reducing the THC amounts present in the system. First of all, you will need to know about the THC levels you have in your system using quality drug test kits.
If you are subjugated to a urine drug test, you may consume as much water as possible since the toxins would not remain in the bladder for more than 2 to 3 weeks. The day before the test, take vitamin B3 supplements which will help retain the urine color during the test to evade dilution.
If you have been asked to take a blood or saliva test, then you could launch all possible measures to delay the test. The drug traces may remain in the blood for a minimum of 24 hours to a maximum of 3 days. As one joint cannot create much impact, there are chances that you could pass the blood or saliva drug test if you come up with a valid reason to stall or delay. Taking other preventive measures is also advisable.
One should keep in mind that taking adequate amounts of diuretics like coffee or flushing the kidneys with detox may lower the specific gravity and alter creatinine levels in the urine. It could make the sample look suspicious and the tester to assume that you tried to cheat on the drug test.
Summing It Up
Smoking a joint may make you feel euphoric, but the metabolites remain in your system once the effects have gone. Drug test looks for the presence of THC and its metabolites, which could remain in the urine for a long time.
Whether you are a first-time joint smoker or an infrequent smoker, the metabolites may show up during the drug test. A frequent user will always carry THC metabolites for longer than an infrequent user. Thus, it is up to you to weigh the risks of cannabis products before using them.