If you’re reading this article, then you’re obviously curious to find out how long the effects of CBD last. Or do you perhaps want to know how long it stays in your system? If so, for what purpose are you asking; is it just to satisfy your curiosity or is it for medical reasons?
Either way, this article will cover a lot of ground on the effects of CBD on the human body in a way that will definitely give you answers to these and many other CBD-related questions.
We also know that there are some people who will read this article to find out how long CBD stays in the system so that they can pass a drug test.
Once again, we’ve covered all the bases here and should have an answer (and a bit of good news) for you in the end.
How Long Will CBD Oil Stay in Your System?
Regardless of why you want to know the answer to this question, you’ll find an answer here.
First off, we’re going to start by giving you a detailed explanation of how CBD works, so that you can understand why it takes as long as it takes to leave your system. As you’ll soon see, the answer to this question is not as simple or cut and dried as you might think.
Now, if you’re just here to find out how long CBD will stay in your system so that you can pass a drug test or for simple curiosity, then, by all means, move onto the section following this one because we’re about to dive really deep into this topic.
It Depends
First of all, there’s not a single answer to the question of how long CBD remains in your system for. This is because everyone’s biology is different so everyone will experience a unique reaction when taking CBD oil.
Also, there are various factors that we have to keep in mind here.
For example, you’d have to take into account what your CBD dosage is, as well as the frequency with which you take it. Then, we’d have to consider the method of intake which differs from one person to the next too and includes options like vaping, oral ingestion and topical application.
Lastly, you have the more arbitrary factors that also play a role, including your metabolism, weight, age, gender, the lifestyle you lead and even the amount of water that you drink every day. However, for the most part, CBD typically takes about a week or so to exit your system on average fully, and that’s if you use it on the odd occasion. We’ll expand on this a little more on in the article.
Marijuana in Your System
Now, you may be wondering; does marijuana take the same amount of time as CBD to exit the system? First of all, it’s important that you do extended research when it comes to that aside from this article, but we’ll give you a general idea.
Essentially, marijuana works similarly to CBD when it comes to the way it acts in your system, and it has a half-life of about one week.
Keep in mind that this is not a completely accurate observation because there are simply too many factors at play that you’d have to consider.
Why Isn’t There an Easy Answer?
At this point, you’re probably thinking; why is the answer to this seemingly simple question starting to look like a never-ending maze? Well, that’s because there’s no single, simple answer to it.
This is mainly because CBD has only recently come into the public consciousness and gained acceptance as a viable form of medicine.
So, there just isn’t enough research and data available to tell us how long CBD will stay in the system. Additional studies need to be conducted over a long period of time to come up with conclusive results.
The closest thing to an answer that we currently have is that it takes the human body an average of three to four days.
On the bright side, there are ongoing studies which are looking for a more conclusive answer to this question. For example, one study was done involving a small group of patients who were given CBD in dosages of 700 mg per day for six weeks.
The results of this study showed that within just one week of stopping the treatment, the CBD had disappeared from the participants’ systems. This was revealed after they underwent a series of tests to see if the CBD was still present. So it literally took a week or less for the body to get rid of the CBD after they’d stopped taking it.
So far, the results we have available from the experiments that have been done show that CBD has a half-life of about two to five days, and you will experience the same results whether you’re a male or female.
Not only that but when the same participants from the study mentioned above were tested for THC, there simply wasn’t any to be found! While most CBD oil products don’t come with any THC or with a low THC content, it’s still good to know that you’re covered nonetheless.
Plus, what this tells us is that CBD, when taken in the recommended dosages, will be out of your system within a week after you stop taking it.
Will CBD Oil Show Up on a Drug Test?
Now, we realize that you probably have a very valid reason for wanting to know what the half-life of CBD is. For most people, it most probably has something to do with an upcoming drug test that they’re nervous about.
While you might feel insecure about your fears, you should know that this is a no-judgment zone. In fact, a lot of regular, well-meaning folks go through this conundrum. I mean, it’s a fair question and shows that you’re a responsible individual who cares about what you put into your body.
The good news is that most mandatory drug exams that employers perform are to test for THC levels, not CBD. That’s because THC is not only a major compound in the hemp plant but it also contains the powerful psychoactive effects that are responsible for getting you “high.”
So you’re right to be concerned. Because even though most CBD oil is sourced from hemp plants (which don’t have any THC), some of it does sometimes come from hemp plants, which often contain THC.
Should the latter be the case, then the drug test could possibly pick the THC compound up. However, most times the people who test positive are those who have taken large amounts of CBD.
What’s a large amount of CBD, you ask? In a nutshell, taking about 1000 mg or more of CBD can lead to a positive test reading for THC, which would obviously be false, but it will be difficult to convince anyone about that. This is why the highest dosage recommendation for CBD that you’ll get from a registered health practitioner is 300 mg.
So, as long as you stick to that dose, everything should be fine.
Now, let’s move onto the second point.
CBD and Your Work Life
Most of the time, drug tests aren’t able to detect the CBD cannabinoid simply because this compound doesn’t have any psychoactive effects.
At the end of the day, employers just want to have a peace of mind knowing that their employees aren’t taking anything that will affect their productivity and output of their firm. So, since CBD doesn’t have any mind-altering effects, drug tests are not designed to seek out its presence in the bloodstream.
Instead, drug tests look out for full spectrum hemp and other “hard substances” with mind and behavior altering effects. This is good news for anyone that’s just taking pure CBD because it means that you’re unlikely to get a positive test result.
Besides, taking CBD will not have any influence on how you perform in your daily work life, and can instead help ease feelings of overwhelm, tension, and discomfort, among other benefits.
How Long Does CBD Last?
Now, if your concern is to find out how long it will take for you to feel the effects of CBD, your best bet is just to be patient. Whether you fear that it’s going to take too longer to kick in or that the effects won’t last as long as you anticipate, your best response is to bide your time simply.
Like we mentioned in the beginning, the way CBD works is different for each individual and just because it’s taking long to kick in doesn’t mean that it’s not working or that it’s just not for you.
Most of the time, all you need to do is just wait and see. For some people, the CBD takes a while before it kicks in while others will experience almost instantaneous results. It all depends on how your system works, and there’s no benchmark to it. Being impatient with CBD will not help at all.
It will only serve to worsen your anxiety or cause you to give up on the treatment altogether. You’d be surprised to find out that for some people it can take up to a week to see results. A week! Now, for someone who’s after a quick fix that could seem like a lifetime. However, if you’re looking for a really sustainable form of treatment for your condition, then you will have to be willing to wait as long as it takes or even to adjust the dosage until you find the one that works for you.
The Effects of CBD Over Time
Researchers have noticed that when patients take CBD for extended periods of time, it starts to act more like a neuroprotectant. A word too fancy for you? We know. What this means is that the CBD interacts more synergistically with your body’s naturally occurring cannabinoids and neurons, which are part of the body’s endocannabinoid system.
That’s why the CBD will start to protect your brain the longer you use it, but this only applies to patients who take it for long periods of time.
Now, how long do the effects last? Typically, it’s recommended that patients wait for a few weeks or months before they expect results. If you still don’t see any effects of the CBD at this point, then you’ll know that it really isn’t for you, or perhaps you’ll have to adjust the dosage until you find the one that works for you. Either way, it will take some time to see results.
What we’re trying to say is that you may not experience any effects after you’ve taken the compound and it will take quite some time for the CBD to start working its magic and that’s okay.
Conclusion
As with any new form of treatment that you take, it’s only natural that you’d want to know what the effects of CBD are. Some people want to know how long CBD takes to work or how long it stays in your system for- so that they can be confident when undergoing a mandatory drug test at work. This is common, and it’s only natural for you to want to cover your bases.
The good news is that it takes about one week for the compound to exit your system, after which it won’t be visible on any test. Plus, CBD usually disappears from the saliva within hours of ingestion but can appear in your urine for up to two weeks max.
The only way to guarantee a negative test result is to take industrial hemp oil that only contains CBD extract with no THC, and makes sure you purchase it from a reliable and trustworthy supplier.