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How Long Will Drugs Stay in Your System?

Jul 10, 2017

Many employers require drug tests of their employees or potential employees. These tests used to target illicit drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana. But with the widespread prescription drug use today, the window of time during which tests can show positive for drugs has become a serious issue for law enforcement, employers, employees, and defendants in court proceedings. It is important to know how long drugs stay in your system.

Which Factors Determine Drug Duration in Your System?

It can be very difficult to determine how long drugs leave your system, simply because everyone is different and there are numerous variables that determine drug duration in your body. Here are a few things that make a difference:

1. Metabolism

If your metabolism is very fast, that means your body uses up things quickly – including food, water, and any drugs that you put into it. The slower your metabolism, the longer a drug might stay in your system.

2. Hydration and Body Mass

If you are overweight, drugs might linger in your system longer, as they might become trapped in fatty tissue. On the other hand, if you are very thin your metabolism might be high, prompting the drug to leave your system fast. Being very hydrated can help the drugs disappear, but that’s not true every time.

3. Amount and Frequency of Drug Use

How often you use a particular drug can make a big difference for answering "how long do drugs stay in your system". Since a tolerance builds up over time, it stands to reason that the one-time use of a drug might clear your system quickly, but using drugs on a regular basis can lead to a lingering effect in your body. The amount you use makes a difference as well.

4. No Exact Timetable

Researchers have been unable to detect a particular time table on which the drugs leave the system. This is because drugs react differently for everyone; for instance, someone might tolerate pain medication very well and need very little. Someone else might need a higher dose, and that means the drug stays in their system longer, simply because of the sheer volume of it. The bottom line is that there is no exact timetable on when the drug clears the system, so there is no way to know when it is “safe” to test.

How Long Do Drugs Stay in Your System?

Though it can be tough to determine just how long a drug will stay in your body, there are some general rules of thumb when it comes to the most common drugs. Keep in mind that this list is not absolute, and shouldn’t be seen as a certainty. For more information on drugs and their time spend in the body, check out this site: http://www.passyourdrugtest.com/timetable.htm

Substance	Misc Names	Urine	Blood	Saliva	Hair
Alcohol	Alcohol, wine, beer, booze	3-5 days via Ethyl Gluconoride (EGT) metabolite	12 hours	1-5 days	Up to 90 days
Cannabis	Marijuana, Mary Jane, pot, grass, reefer, weed	2 days to 11 weeks	2 days	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Cocaine	Flake, snow, powder, coke, crack	2-30 days	24 hours	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Codeine	Tylenol 3, Robitusin A-C, schoolboy	2-4 days	12 hours	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
Tobacco	Cigarettes, cigs, cigars, snuff	1-3 days	n/a	1-3 days	Up to 90 days
Ecstasy	Adam, XTC, STP	2-5 days	24 hours	1-5 days	Up to 90 days
Darvon	Opiate, painkiller	8-24 hours	n/a	1-2 days	Up to 90 days
Demerol	Mepergan, Pethidine	6-12 days	n/a	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Heroin	Cheese, Gear, Black Tar, Bobby, Junk, Harry, Smack	2-4 days	6 hours	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
Dilaudid	Palladone, hydrostat	2-4 days	n/a	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
Opium	Dover’s powder	2-4 das	12 hours	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
Fentanyl	Lollipop, China White	8-24 hours	12 hours	1-2 days	Up to 90 days
Halcion	Benzos	1-6 weeks	6-48 hours	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Hash	Hashish, Hashish Oil	2 days – 11 weeks	2 days	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Hydrocodone	Vicodin, Lortab, Vics, Lorcet, Norco	1-6 days	n/a	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Spice	Synthetic Cannabis, JWH-018	2 days – 11 weeks	2 days	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
LSD	Hallucinogenic, Acid, microdot	8-24 hours	3 hours	1-2 days	Up to 90 days
Paragoric	Laudanum, Opium-based painkiller	2-4 days	12 hours	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
Loperamide	Maalox, Immodium AD	20-24 hours	n/a	n/a	Up to 90 days
Ludes	Methaqualone	2 weeks	n/a	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Peyote	Mescaline, cactus, buttons	2-3 days	24 hours	1-3 days	Up to 90 days
Meth	Crank, Crystal, ice, speed, rocks	1-4 days	1-3 days	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
Morphine	Roxanol, Robitussin A-C, Codeine	3-4 days	12 hours	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
Nembutal	Barbiturate	2-10 days	1-2 days	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Oxycodone	Percocet, Oxy, oxycontin, percodan, hillbilly heroin	3-4 days	24 hours	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
Oxycontin	Oxy R, Oxy fast, Percocet with Acetaminophen	3-4 days	24 hours	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
PCP	Angel dust, killer weed, wack, Supergrass	1-7 days, heavy use 1-4 weeks	24 hours	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Phenobarbital	Barbiturate	2-10 days, heavy use 1-2 weeks	4-7 days or 5-10 days	1-10 days	Up to 90 days
Mushrooms	Shrooms, magic, purple passion	2-5 days	n/a	1-5 day	Up to 90 days
Ritalin	Mommy pills	1-2 days	n/a	1-2 days	Up to 90 days
Tramadol	Tram cars, Ultram, ultracet	2-4 days	6 hours	1-4 days	Up to 90 days
Valium	Xanax	7-10 days, heavy use 1-6 weeks	6-48 hours	1-10 days	Up to 90 days