How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Your Saliva?

Marijuana or medically termed as Cannabis, commonly known as weed is a psychoactive drug. The drug is obtained from Cannabis sativa plant. Initially, the drug was used in China to treat pain and arthritis. In case if you are about to take a drug test then you want to know how long does marijuana stay in your saliva. The article discusses how long does marijuana stay in your system and by what means does marijuana enters your body and what is its impact.

Before getting into this fact, let us know the growth of marijuana. In the post half of 19th-century marijuana was available over the counter to treat nausea, labor pains and rheumatism. Marijuana occupies the third place in recreational drug list, USA. Around 4% of the world’s population uses this drug, although, it is prohibited in some of the countries.

Marijuana’s Effects On Body

Once after intake of marijuana the effects fade away quickly. However, tetrahydrocannabinol an active ingredient present in the drug remains in the body and can be detected even after weeks or longer after consumption. This remains in the body depending on how it the drug is metabolized. Few tetrahydrocannabinol metabolites have 20 hours of the elimination half-life. While the other elements stored in body fat have 10 or 13 days elimination half-life. The body weight of the person also influences the half lives. Additionally, the other factors include how frequently the person uses the drug, the amount of drug the person consumes and for how long the person has used the drug.

The orally ingested drug remains for about 1 to 5 days. It is easy to remove the content of cannabis from the system of rare smokers within few days. In case of heavy smokers, it requires around 2 weeks to a month to free the system from drug and to make the drug level nil. The chronic users those are used to smoke daily may require 2 or 3 months after stopping consumption to get rid of cannabis in the body completely.

How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Your Saliva?

The marijuana may be detected in your saliva only within 72 hours of consumption. The laboratory tests can detect the presence of drug up to 72 hours while the online instant drug test detects only up to 12 hours post consumption. The instant drug test detects the parent drug, not the metabolite thus, can detect only up to a short duration.

How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Your Blood?

Once after the drug usage, it will be present in the blood for the next 2 to 3 days. The presence of marijuana in the blood can be noticed up to 2 to 3 weeks after usage in case if the drug consumption is regular and heavy. The blood test also has short detection window and preferred less. Blood tests detect the active THC levels in the body; hence, it can detect only the recent use.

How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Your System?

Here the measure of THC levels is not taken rather the levels of THC metabolites are measured. The THC-COOH is measured in this test as it stays for long in the system. The test is influenced by the frequency of usage of drugs and the quantity used. In case if the user is irregular and does not frequently use then this urine test can detect the presence of the drug after 2 to 5 days of usage. If the user is a heavy user, then the drug can be detected up to 15 days. In case of chronic users and heavy body fat people up to 30 days after usage. This test is reliable and common one.

Origin Of Cannabis

The Cannabis plants owe their origin to South Asian Himalayas and Central Asian Valleys. The cannabis plant fiber used in clothing, ropes, and sail. In the United States, the Controlled Substances Act 1970 says that it is illegal to buy, sell, possess, cultivate or use marijuana in USA. Marijuana is been classified under Schedule Drug 1 this attributes the drug characterized with high potential to cause abuse and do not have any medical use.

The marijuana is also known as Mary Jane, pot, joint, hash, Aunt Mary, dope, ganja, yerba, blunts, skunk, chronic, gangster, indo, kif, hydro, smoke, BC, grass, boom, sinsemilla, and bud.

The Marijuana’s Effects

The psychoactive properties are been attributed to the weed due to the presence of the chemical component called Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. When the drug is been ingested it causes both physical and psychological effects due to the binding of THC with cannabinoid receptors present in the brain. The intensity of effects depends on the amount of intake, the means of intake, and the frequency. Additionally, it also depends on the factors like body mass index, drug tolerance, age, co-morbidities, and other drugs taken at the same time.

Instant Effects Of Marijuana

Both brain and body get affected due to the drug. The instant effects reduce after about 3 or 4 hours. However, the residual effects take a couple of days more to get fixed. It might take more time in case if any other medication used along with the drug. The instant effects include:

Red eyes
High heart rate or Tachycardia
Dry mouth
Magical thinking
High appetite
Reaction time slows down
Paranoia
Cognitive problems
Lack of Coordination
Loss of short term memory
Depression and anxiety
Distorted sights, sounds and sensings of time
High blood pressure or Hypertension
Increased breath rate or Tachypnea

Long Term Effects

If the drug is frequently consumed and for a quite long time then the below symptoms are evident in the person:

Dependence
Weak immune system and cannot resist common sicknesses like bronchitis and cold
Less motivated
Low sex drive
Improper growth
Schizophrenia
High abnormally structured body cells
Reduction in production of sex hormones (male)
Cannot easily learn and retain any info
Drowsiness and apathy
Mood swings and changes in personality

How To Test Marijuana Present In the Body?

Hair, saliva, urine, and blood are tested to detect the presence of marijuana. The factors that affect the test results are body weight, body fat, frequency of usage, and amount consumed.

Saliva Test

It is a new technology yet less proven
The saliva test does not detect the presence of active metabolite but the parent drug resulting in shorter window detection.
It is difficult to test the oral fluids to check the presence of active metabolite tetrahydrocannabinol because only small amount of drug is excreted in the saliva.
You can get the test results instantly after 10 or 12 minutes. The cut-off levels are 25ng/ml.

Urine Test

Urine test is reliable and popular test used to date
The test effectively detects marijuana after few weeks or days of consumption. It involves using non-psychoactive metabolite THC-COOH levels
The urine samples are exposed to the threshold sensitivity of 50ng/ml
Gas Chromatography or Mass Spectrometry confirms the positive results.

Hair Test

The standard hair test includes hair test for detecting cannabis
The test measures the content of the parent metabolite in the hair shaft. Further, the test eliminates the possibility of the presence of marijuana due to external contamination. It is easy to store, transport, and collect the hair sample.
The hair testing requires the recently grown 1.5 inches of hair.
In case if the hair is shorter than 1.5 inches then the period of detection also is short.
If you have body hair specimen then detecting the presence of cannabis in the body hair may be longer. As the growth rate of body hair is slow than the scalp hair.
Usage of shampoo, bleach, or any other chemicals does not affect the test results
Hair testing has a short detection window about 1pg/mg

Accuracy Of Marijuana Test

The marijuana test may result in inaccurate results if you have undergone passive inhalation, mishandling of samples, improper diagnosis, and the existence of cross reactants.

Addiction And Withdrawal of Marijuana

Once you are dependent on marijuana, physically and psychologically you are ought to notice the withdrawal symptoms if you stop intake marijuana abruptly.
The daily smokers experience more symptoms once stopped the use of marijuana
The symptoms last from 5 to 7 days depending on the amount and frequency of marijuana usage
The manifestations are usually mild that includes nausea, headache, restlessness, flu-like, loss of appetite, trouble sleeping, anxiety, and depression.
The other symptoms include mood swings, strange dreaming, weight gain or loss, physical tension, abdominal pain, less sex drive, dizziness, digestive problems, and shaking.
In the initial period of withdrawal, you are likely to experience these symptoms intensely
Depending on the amount of consumption and how frequently the withdrawal process can be intense and you may be forced to relapse.
The number of support groups helps you in handling the manifestations of withdrawal of marijuana.

When you are attempting to quit the consumption of marijuana, you are likely to face the above symptoms states the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre. Most of the symptoms reaches a peak in the next 72 hours after quitting the consumption of marijuana. And these symptoms lessen without any treatment after a week of intake of marijuana. Coping with withdrawal anxiety can be challenging and stressful. During the period following withdrawal it is crucial for you to:

1. Be Patient

The anxiety you are facing is likely to survive for a week and not more than that. You must know being patient for a week can keep you away from marijuana for a lifetime. However, these symptoms do not last long forever. But, it is difficult to remain patient with all these symptoms. You can think that you are upset and feeling irritated but, remember being patient pays you in the long run as you can keep away from marijuana.

2. Be Calm

When your anxiety strikes high due to the withdrawal of marijuana, remember to stay calm. You can consume some herbal teas that produce soothing effects and calms you down. Cultivate a hobby that keeps you out of stress and calm downs you. Additionally, consider doing some yoga and meditation that keep you relaxed and helps you to overcome anxiety.

3. Get Help

Prior becoming addict to marijuana if you have suffered from anxiety then you may need some medication to stay cool and overcome anxiety. Your doctor can suggest Valium or Xanax to help ease your anxiety symptoms. Or your doctor may suggest any other remedies to overcome anxiety.

4. Seek Support

Support groups are available to help you to overcome anxiety caused due to the withdrawal of marijuana. Additionally, you can find few online support groups to help you a long way to deal the aftermath of the withdrawal. There are 12 step programs and marijuana anonymous groups to help you.

5. Stay Active

You can face bad effects of withdrawal symptoms of marijuana if you allow it to be. Don’t keep yourself away from anything. Stay on and go on, be active. If you feel your anxiety is obstructing your routine, then do some exercise to take your mind off of the symptoms. Once you complete the exercise, keep yourself relaxed. Exercise not only keeps you away from anxiety but can enhance your sleep in turn keeping your body fit and help you stay active.

The key to coming out of the withdrawal symptoms is that keep yourself reminded that these symptoms do not last long, but the positive impact of withdrawal lasts forever.

Other Uses of Marijuana

In November, 2012 states of Washington and Colorado passed legislation stating that recreational use of marijuana is legalized. Studies have supported this legislation apart from the recreational uses the drug also has other benefits and medical uses. Some of the medical benefits include: