5 Ways to Cleanse for a Drug Test
Updated January 2022
Delta 8 THC products are awesome for recreational and health use. While federally legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, Delta 8 THC is still regulated in many states. In some states, Delta 8 is completely legal, in other states it is more regulated and may be purchased with a medical card. Unfortunately, even though Delta 8 is legal in most states, and federally legal, you may be in a situation where you need to take a drug test for THC. Delta 8 THC will cause you to test positive for THC in most drug tests. Delta 9 THC is found in marijuana, and most tests are not sophisticated enough to know the difference. In this article, we will cover the different types of drug tests, why even Delta 8 THC will probably make you fail a drug test, and how you can prepare to pass a drug test even if you are a frequent Delta 8 THC user.
If you are new to Delta 8 THC or still confused on what Delta 8 products are, be sure to read our “What is Delta 8 THC?” article.
Different Types of Drug Tests
There are 4 different types of drug tests that a company can potentially require you to take, whether periodically or before hiring you. These 4 types of drug tests are blood sample test, saliva (or oral swab) test, urine test, and hair follicle test. While the urine test is probably the most common test, knowing the other types is beneficial when you are needing to prepare for a drug test.
Drug test types are limited and are still not advanced enough to differentiate between Delta 8 THC and Delta 9 THC. This is because, though the effects are a bit different, Delta 8 THC and Delta 9 THC are nearly chemically identical. When THC of any kind (Delta 8, Delta 9, Delta 10, or others) gets broken down by your metabolism in your body, it all looks the same in small molecules called “THC metabolites”. While they may react differently in your body, they all signal drug tests the same; THC is present in your system. So, even if Delta 8 and/or Delta 9 is legal in your state, you could fail a drug test.
Furthermore, even though Delta 8 products are supposed to only contain up to, but not exceeding 0.3% Delta 9 THC, drug tests don’t look for levels of THC. Again, drug tests aren’t sophisticated enough, so they only know the presence of THC period. Here is a good time to note that if you are using CBD, you may want to make sure if it is a Full Spectrum CBD product that the small amount of THC is cleansed from your system before a drug test. The risk of failing a drug-test with a full spectrum CBD product is very low, but theoretically possible.
How Long THC Stays in Your System
How long any form of THC stays in your system is different from how long you feel its effects. While the psychoactive effects that you experience when using THC can last for quite a few hours, THC can still potentially stay in your body/system for a lot longer depending on different factors such as body chemistry, how frequent of a user you are, what types of products you use, and some other factors.
Delta 8 can show up in different drug tests for different amounts of time.
- Blood test: up to 2 days
- Saliva test: up to 2 days
- Urine test: up to 48 days
- Hair follicle test: up to 90 days
Of course, the duration of THC staying in your system depends on your body’s chemistry, diet, water intake, physical activity, age, and other factors.
5 Ways to Cleanse THC for a Drug Test
In order to prepare to pass a drug test, you will need a heads up before your drug test, which a lot of jobs do. While these are not super fail-safe methods, they will help you prepare for a future drug test. Keep in mind that you will need at least 10 days to ensure Delta 8 won’t show up on a drug test. For more frequent users, you may need a bit more time. For smokers, specifically, THC can show up on a drug test for an upwards of 30 days in their urine.
- Abstain from using all THC (Delta 8, Delta 10, or Delta 9) products.
This is the best way to flush your system and prepare for your next drug test. Especially if you know the type of test you will be taking, you will know when you should stop using Delta 8 products until after your test.
- Drink a lot of water.
This might be super obvious, but sometimes it’s hard to remember to drink water. The average adult (depending on other factors including activity levels) is about 4 liters per day. By drinking over your daily recommended intake of water will help flush out the THC metabolites (small molecules).
- Eat a balanced and healthy diet.
Keeping yourself healthy is a good thing in general, of course. When it comes to your diet and cleaning out your system for a drug test, making sure your metabolism is healthy and you are *ahem* regular will help rid your body of the toxins.
- Exercise daily.
Exercising will help maintain your metabolism, which is important to helping rid your system of traces of THC.
- Pee the morning of your test.
Flushing out the last of the metabolites in your system that stored up overnight is the final step in your prep process.
Of course, there are kits you can purchase that will help you pass your tests. Look into which ones could work the best, but don't lean on them to help pass your drug test every time.
Don’t Be Afraid to Try THC
The possibility of a drug test in your future shouldn’t scare you from trying THC products if you haven’t yet. Whether you are looking at Delta 8, Delta 9, Delta 10, and THC-O for recreational purposes or if you have something medical you are looking for relief for, Delta 8 THC products can be beneficial. So, drug tests don’t have to be scary when using THC for whatever your reason, just remember that time is going to be the most effective thing to get THC traces out of your system.
HHC can be another option. Studies have been showing that HHC may not show up on drug tests. Read more about HHC here.
*Please note that The Green Dragon cannot 100% promise that you pass a drug test with flying colors. We can only provide assistance in possible options that can help flush THC out of your system with time.