Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the major cannabinoids that derives from cannabis and hemp plants. Hemp-derived CBD is federally legal, making its products more readily available. This compound is rapidly growing in popularity due to its wide range of medicinal benefits.
Users are expressing concerns about how long CBD stays in the system because recent studies suggest that drug tests may return positive results for people who are using CBD products. While there is no conclusive answer for how long CBD stays in one’s system, you should expect the cannabinoid to hang around in your body for two to five days.
Some experts in this field believe that CBD will not stay in your body for more than a week. One study shows participants using around 700mg of CBD every day for about six consecutive weeks. The results at the end of the study show that the CBD is almost undetectable only a week after discontinuing its administration.
However, accurately determining how long CBD can stay in one’s system requires further research. Read on to learn more about how CBD works in your body, how long it stays there, and what factors affect the duration of its effects.
What Happens When You Take CBD?
To understand how long this compound stays in your system, you should start from the time that it enters your body. When you take CBD, you can expect it to get into your bloodstream within 15 minutes to two hours, depending on the method of consumption.
Topical forms of CBD, such as ointments, lotions, and balms, usually take effect almost immediately. When you apply CBD topically on your body, you should start feeling the effects in about 15 minutes.
For ingestible CBD products, such as capsules, tinctures, and gummies, the amount of time before the effects start to kick in varies significantly. When you place tinctures under the tongue, the bloodstream absorbs them within 30 seconds, and the effects kick in within 15 minutes.
When you swallow CBD, you can expect to experience the effects within about 45 minutes to two hours. Vaped CBD gets to your lungs and takes effect within seconds, but the effects wear off quickly.
Besides the consumption method, other factors that affect the rate of CBD absorption into your bloodstream include how often you take the product, dosage, and whether the product is Full-Spectrum or THC-free.
CBD effects usually manifest as a feeling of calm and relaxation, but how long should you expect this experience to last? The answer to this question also depends on several factors, which we will discuss in the next section.
Factors Affecting How Long CBD Stays in Your System
How long CBD stays in the body and its detectability vary from one person to the next, depending on the following factors.
Method of Use
You can take CBD in several different ways, and the method you use affects how long it takes for the effects to kick in, as well as how long it remains in the system. The various forms of CBD include:
- Tinctures and oils
- Lotions and creams
- Pills and capsules
- CBD vapes
- Edibles
When you vape CBD, it goes directly into your lungs, taking effect quickly. However, it also leaves your system quickly. If you place tinctures and oils under the tongue, they find their way into your bloodstream quickly and hang around in the body for a longer period of time.
For edible CBD products, your digestive system needs a considerable amount of time to metabolize them. Lotions and creams also take longer to get into and out of your system.
Body Composition
Your body’s fat cells store CBD because it is a fat-soluble compound. If you are lean with less body fat and more muscle, you will metabolize CBD faster. Faster metabolism means that the CBD will exit your system more quickly. For people with less muscle tissue and more body fat, CBD will take longer to leave their systems.
Physical Activity
Your level of physical activity can also influence the rate of CBD metabolism in your body. If you work out regularly, you can expect CBD to exit your system more quickly than if you are usually sedentary.
Dosage and Intake Frequency
Like with most other substances, the higher the CBD dosage, the longer it will stay in your body. When it comes to frequency, regular use of CBD leads to the compound building up in your body, and it will take longer to clear out of your system. However, if you are consuming CBD for the first time or if you only take it occasionally, the CBD will likely exit your system much faster.
Food
What you eat, the amount you eat, and when you eat also affect how long CBD stays in your system. If you take this substance on an empty stomach, its metabolism and elimination will be quicker than if you take it when you are full. A full stomach slows down CBD digestion.
Can CBD Show Up on Drug Tests?
One of the primary reasons people want to know how long CBD stays in the body is the fear of failing drug tests due to using CBD products. Testing positive on a drug test comes with serious consequences, especially for athletes and those seeking jobs that require these tests often.
Generally, CBD does not show up on drug tests. However, you must ensure that you are using THC-free CBD products or products with legally recommended THC levels. THC is a psychoactive compound that derives from cannabis. This compound causes the “high” feeling in cannabis users.
You can still fail a drug test depending on the quality and composition of the CBD product you are using. However, reports of this type of failed test are rare. There are various types of CBD products, each with different amounts of THC. These types of products include the following:
- CBD Isolate only contains CBD and zero THC. You are less likely to get a false-positive result on a drug test when you take CBD Isolate products.
- Full-spectrum CBD contains all of the naturally occurring compounds of the marijuana plant, including THC. A more potent effect manifests, but you risk getting a false positive on drug tests. If you want to enjoy the benefits of full-spectrum CBD without worrying about failing random drug tests, consider using hemp-derived CBD products. The law requires these products to contain no more than 0.3% THC.
- Broad-spectrum CBD is almost similar to full-spectrum CBD in terms of properties, but this product undergoes a process that eliminates THC.
While tests that can detect CBD are available, they are usually expensive and not widely used. Continue reading to learn how long CBD stays in different systems of your body.
How Long CBD Stays in Various Elements of Your Body
While various studies show that detecting CBD in your system for a certain period of time is possible, most drug tests focus on the presence of THC. Therefore, accurate information on how long CBD stays in the system is limited compared with information on THC.
Urine
Excessive consumption of CBD can sometimes lead to the compound staying in the system for up to one week, extending the detection window to at least a month. In single exposures, detecting THC and its metabolites in urine is possible for about three days after the last time of consumption.
Urine tests often return positive results if you take more than 2,000mg of approved CBD products daily. While this figure may seem high, frequent use of CBD products is highly likely to give you a false positive for drug tests due to CBD and THC build-up in the body.
Blood
Drug-oriented blood tests focus on recent usage. These tests can detect THC for about five hours after the last use. However, THC metabolites can stay in the body for up to a week. Taking CBD products with unknown THC levels will only return a positive result if you take a blood test within this short period of time.
Saliva
Detecting CBD and THC components in saliva is possible within minutes of administration and up to 72 hours afterward. However, chronic use of CBD products containing THC could extend this detection window. Saliva tests for CBD are rare for legal or employment reasons.
Hair
Hair tests have a reputation for detecting drugs for an extended period of time after consumption. These tests can detect THC metabolites in CBD for up to three months after the last use. However, like saliva tests, hair tests are rare for THC and CBD.
Is CBD Addictive?
The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that pure CBD has no abuse potential. However, chronic use of CBD products can result in psychological dependence. If you or a loved one has a problem with CBD dependency, you can find help.
Remedies include personalized therapy sessions to address the root causes of substance misuse. Finding help as early as possible is important to prevent the problem from worsening.
Final Thoughts
No definite answer exists for how long CBD stays in your system, but a range of factors show that CBD can last for up to a week. The method of consumption, the potency of the product, and your body composition are some of the factors that affect the time it takes for this compound to exit your system.
You can find more information about CBD products at The Other Path CBD. We are committed to helping you find high-quality, vetted CBD products while providing exceptional customer support and education through personal interactions and within our community. Call us at 818-825-2739 today or visit our website to find out more about what we have to offer.