Introduction
Drug tests are the main reason why users like to know how long CBD remains detectable in urine. Some CBD users have sometimes returned false positives in drug tests. Some Researchers have attributed such false positives to the inability of tests used to distinguish between cannabinoids. Thus, they view any cannabinoid, including CBD, like THC.
The case of Mark Pennington is one of the most notorious in this regard. Mark almost lost custody of his two-year-old son in 2018 when the boy’s mother took the child’s hair follicle for a drug test. The test returned positive for THC, while all Mark had given his son was CBD honey. Further tests showed that previous tests were wrong.
Whether it is because you are about to go for a drug test or you want to calculate your dosage, the following information will paint you a picture of how long CBD will remain detectable in your body system in general and in a urine sample in particular.
It’s important to note that this question is not straightforward even as we delve into the details. Many factors determine the interaction of CBD with the user’s body, as virtually every person has different physiology. The product you use also plays a role in determining how the product finds its way through the body.
It also informs whether your CBD leaves residue in urine and how much of it. It follows, therefore, that whatever findings there are in this article are pretty general.
Speed of metabolism
Some people have a fast metabolism, and their bodies break down CBD and excrete the residue fast. The faster the metabolism, the sooner the body eliminates CBD. Thus, it will only be detectable in urine shortly after use.
Frequency
CBD is likely to remain detectable for longer if you take it frequently. There is a greater concentration of CBD in a regular user’s body, and it takes longer to get it out of the body.
Dosage
The size of your CBD dosage is another determinant. The bigger the dosage, the longer it will take for traces of CBD to leave the body. The Pharmacology and Behavior Journal published a study of patients with Huntington’s disease who took 700mg of CBD over a time.
The subjects ceased to take the CBD for one week, after which their urine was examined. Some small amounts of CBD were still detectable after one week of not taking CBD.
Administration Method
The formulation of a CBD product informs its method of administration. It’s an essential factor that determines how long the cannabinoid will remain in the system. Some products are more bioavailable than others, and some pass-through parts of the body take longer to absorb CBD, such as the gut. All these factors determine how long you will have CBD in the system, which determines whether it will be detectable in the urine.
Ingredients
Manufacturers choose some ingredients in your CBD products deliberately to increase your body’s ability to absorb them. The elements include carrier oils and compounds that facilitate CBD’s topicals’ penetration of the skin. Carrier oils that enable bio-availability also increase the speed of CBD leaving the body.
Administration Methods
The following are the different CBD administration methods and how they determine the time CBD will be in the system.
Ingestion
The CBD products you ingest go through the gut like food. They include edibles such as cookies and gummies and CBD capsules. It takes longer for the CBD to be absorbed into the bloodstream because it has to go through the first pass effect. The first pass is the process through which the liver breaks down drugs for onwards absorption.
During this process, the liver moderates the CBD concentration that will get into the bloodstream and releases excess quantities through excretion. You will, therefore, have CBD in your urine after the first pass and later after the kidneys filter your blood.
Ingestion is a highly inefficient method of taking CBD since its bioavailability is only 5%. You would need to take copious amounts of CBD to meet your dosage needs. More significant quantities would mean more CBD in the system for longer.
Sublingual
In this method, you put drops of CBD oil or tincture on the mucus membrane under the tongue or inside the cheek (basal mucosa). Hold your CBD tincture in position for three to four minutes as you move it around with your tongue on the membrane you have applied it.
You can swallow what remains in the mouth after three to four minutes. The two membranes allow CBD to go directly into the bloodstream.
CBD doesn’t go through the first pass effect theoretically means that CBD gets into the bloodstream in unregulated quantities. When taken sublingually, CBD doesn’t linger in the body too long. Traces of it may be found in the urine an hour or two after use.
Inhalation
Inhalation is maybe the most effective method of taking CBD. Inhaled CBD is highly bioavailable, and it acts fast. The CBD goes directly to the bloodstream through the lungs. It is unregulated, and it can give the user a ‘body high.’
When taken this way, CBD passes through the system quickly. It may be found in your urine for just a few hours after taking it. You can inhale CBD by vaping or by smoking CBD-dominant hemp buds.
Detecting CBD in Urine
Having CBD in the system doesn’t necessarily mean that a test will find the same in urine during a drug test. You can register the cannabinoid more readily in the bloodstream than you would in urine.
There’s a study published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology found that 30% of participants who vaped CBD with 0.39% THC content tested positive for THC in the urine.
The law only allows the use of CBD products with a maximum of 0.3% THC content, so one might argue that the sample used exceeded the legal limit. The sample CBD used exceeded the regular 0.3% by only 0.09, and study participants vaped it only once.
If a person vapes regularly, they will probably test positive for THC. There is also the problem of inaccurate product labels on the many CBD products. A study by the University of Pennsylvania found that 21% of the CBD products on sale online contain THC even if they don’t provide this fact on their labels.
All the factors listed above determine how long you will have cannabinoids in your system after taking CBD. The exact duration that CBD will be in your body system may be difficult to pinpoint. You can, however, increase or reduce this duration by changing your product.
You should also make sure the products you buy have gone through testing by an ISO-17025 certified lab. That way, you can be sure of its contents by studying its certificate of analysis. You will be able to avoid the inadvertent purchase of products with too much THC.
