There is a lot of confusion about how long does marijuana (THC) stay in your system. In comparison with other drugs, it stays in your body the longest because it’s stored in your fat cells and is not water-soluble. One of the biggest myths in the world of drug testing is that you can flush THC out with water just like you can do with cocaine or opiates. This is simply not true, as in order to get rid of THC you would have to burn your fat cells, and drinking water or other liquids doesn’t really help with it.

The length of time marijuana actually stays in your body depends on several factors, such as your metabolite rate, your weight, and amount and frequency of use. In simple words, a skinny person who is a light user with high metabolism has much higher chances to pass a drug test than an overweight heavy user with low metabolism.

There are some natural ways to accelerate the process of detoxing from marijuana if you have at least a few weeks before your drug test. However, if you only have a few days before the deadline, there is nothing you can really do except for purchasing a product that will help you pass.

Below, we compiled for you an approximate timeline of how long the THC stays in your system. This approach only accounts for amount and frequency of use, and doesn’t take into consideration your weight and your metabolism rate. But based on what you’ve read in this article, you can make an educated guess of how long THC will stay in your system.

Urine Drug Test

One time user may test positive for up to 1 week

Moderate user (using once a week) may test positive for up to 2 weeks

Heavy user (using three times a week) may test positive for up to 1 month

Extremely heavy user (using every day) may test positive for up to 3 months

Hair Drug Test

On a hair drug test, THC will appear as positive for up to 90 days after use. It stays in your hair the same amount of time as other drugs do, which means forever: once it’s locked in your hair strand, there is nothing much you can do except for using a shampoo that will help you pass. However, on the drug test they only take 1½  inches of your hair, and it helps them to detect if you smoked within the last 3 months.

Saliva Drug Test

If you have to take a saliva drug test, we have good news for you: it’s the best test to take for marijuana smokers. It will only show up positive on your drug test if you smoked less then 24 hours before the test, otherwise you will pass with flying colors! It’s the only test that is easier to pass for marijuana smokers than for meth or opiate users.

See a detection time for other substances here.