Here is how long common drugs stay in your body
Contrary to what many ads for drug tests might say, not all drugs leave their telltale chemical signatures in the body for the same amount of time.
When we snort, smoke, or swallow a drug, our bodies start to break it down right away.
During this process, the drug’s byproducts, called metabolites, are made. These byproducts can stay in our blood, urine, and even hair for a long time after the drug’s effects have worn off.
Drug testers look for these metabolites because they are a good sign that someone has actually used a drug and not just come into contact with it by accident.
Even though hair drug tests are pretty accurate, blood and urine tests can’t find most drugs if you haven’t used in about a week. Heroin, for instance, is usually gone from the urine after three to five days.
As the chart below shows, LSD, morphine, heroin, amphetamines, and alcohol all leave traces in the blood for no more than 12 hours:
For urine, the window of time when drugs can be found is a little bit bigger. For example, LSD, MDMA, and morphine can be found in urine for about three to six days, while marijuana can be found for up to 30 days:
As the chart below shows, hair-based drug tests are the most accurate because traces of drugs like alcohol and morphine can stay in the hair follicle for up to 90 days:
