How Long Does Weed Stay In The System Of An Athlete?

Drug tests are common in professional sports leagues and can become an obstacle for athletes who consume weed. Most tests are used to detect performance-enhancing drugs, which include cannabis.

Weed can stay in your system for up to 3 months. The amount of time it stays within your body is determined by the frequency of consumption and what type of test is being administered.

So if you’re a concerned athlete who consumes cannabis and has to submit to a drug test, how long will you have to wait before the weed is out of your system?

Factors that determine how long weed remains in an athlete’s body

There are several factors to keep in mind when considering consuming cannabis as an athlete. Since drug tests can be randomized, it is best to know what to expect when you use cannabis.

How often you consume weed

If you consume cannabis occasionally, you will have a higher chance of purging the inactive metabolites your body produces when it breaks down the THC in your system. Long-term users will have to wait much longer to get the THC out of their system because the saturation is far higher.

How much body fat you have

Since THC is fat-soluble and will remain detectable much longer in someone with higher body fat levels. A high metabolism usually means a lower body fat percentage and, as such, can completely rid the body of the THC metabolic byproducts quickly.

The amount of exercise you do can impact this process as well. Since an athlete’s system is always active, they will have an easier time shortening the detection window by quickly burning up the inactive metabolites. Stored-up THC will be processed once the body fat tissues are burned up.

How much cannabis you’ve consumed

Consuming weed with a high THC concentration will take longer to process. That is why it can be a problem with heavy users since they will generally have much more in their system.

The problem is that your body will break down the THC pretty quickly, but will leave the byproducts as beacons for the test. A high THC product or prolonged cannabis use will only delay the natural flushing process and add more THC to your system.

Will weed show up on a drug test?

Both occasional users and chronic users will run the risk of testing positive for weed in their system. All tests will search for the presence of THC through the THC metabolites left after the body has processed the chemical.

That being said, there are more than a few kinds of tests that can be administered. They vary in cost and accuracy but can still be reliable in determining if an athlete has consumed weed in the detection window.

What are the types of cannabis drug testing?

The type of drug test depends on what the specific league has put together. There are several options and in a lot of cases, different drug tests are administered regularly.

Urine test

Urine tests are considered the most accurate since the detection window is quite long. The tests look for the presence of the molecule THC COOH, which can stay in your system for over 30 days.

It involves submitting a container of urine to a lab for analysis. If you’re an athlete, a urine test is the most common form of a weed drug test.

Saliva drug test

Saliva tests are inexpensive and also commonly used in many sports leagues. It has the shortest detection window of up to 72 hours for chronic users. Smoking weed and having a fast metabolism may help avoid any THC detection in the results of your saliva test.

Blood drug test

Blood tests are much like Saliva tests in that there is a short window where you can find THC. It can detect levels of THC metabolites in your blood up to 48 hours after consumption. If you are a heavy cannabis user, a blood test will have to be effective for up to 72 hours and beyond.

Hair follicle test

Hair follicle testing is not a common way of testing for drugs and is used primarily for those who are heavy consumers. A hair analysis drug test can be quite expensive, but it will detect results up to 3 months after consumption.

Does the NCAA drug test for weed?

The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) tests for various hormones, steroids, and recreational drugs such as Marijuana use. The drug tests are administered as part of a drug prevention program that extends out to the member schools.

According to the NCAA, there can be no trace of performance-altering drugs in the system of an athlete. The banned substance policy is strict enough to impact the eligibility of your membership even before being a part of the association.

How athletes can beat a marijuana drug test

It will take at least 72 hours to get rid of most of the THC metabolites in your system. Here are some ways that you can beat a weed drug test.

Drink lots of water

Water is known to flush out your system pretty well on its own, and the same applies to cannabis consumption. Be wary of drinking too much because water intoxication is a serious medical condition that can be fatal.

Most drug tests can be failed if your urine is too clear. Ensure you do not drink a lot of water right before the test. Milk thistle and cranberry juice are great ways to speed up the detoxification process.

Some athletes can be worried that they’ll fail their urine test because of too much water in their system. The remedy for that would be to intake some vitamin B, which will change the color of your urine back to yellow.

Avoid using the first pee of the day

The first bathroom break of the day is where your urine is at its most concentrated. If drug testers were looking for signs of THC, they could easily find it in the first sample of the day.

Brush your teeth

This really pertains to a saliva test that looks for THC in your mouth. Brushing your teeth and using a strong mouthwash will increase your chances of flushing out any cannabinoids. Once your mouth is clean, it will produce more saliva, which will further help the breakdown of the THC.

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