Marijuana Detection Time Shorter Than Previously Assumed

February 23, 2006 - Columbia, MO, USA

Columbia, MO: The length of time cannabis metabolites may be detected, on average, on a standard urine screen is typically no longer than ten days for chronic users and between 3-4 days for infrequent users, according to a literature review published in the current issue of the journal Drug Court Review.
"Recent scientific literature indicates that it is uncommon for occasional marijuana smokers to test positive for cannabinoid [metabolites] in urine for longer than seven days" at 20 ng/ml or above on the EMIT (Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique) test, the author concludes. "Following smoking cessation, chronic smokers would not be expected to remain positive for longer than 21 days, even when using the 20 ng/ml cannabinoid cutoff."
When tested at the 50 ng/ml cutoff threshold, infrequent users typically test negative for the presence of marijuana metabolites within 3-4 days, while heavy users typically test negative by ten days after ceasing use, the study found.
While several clinical trials from the 1980's found cannabis metabolites to be identifiable in the urine at low concentrations for longer periods of time, particularly in heavy users, the author suggests that more advanced drug-testing technology has narrowed this window of detection.

"As cannabinoid screening tests evolved, these improved assays became more selective in the manner in which they detected marijuana metabolites," the author writes. "As detection specificity increased, the length of time cannabinoids were being detected in urine decreased. ... Therefore, the results of cannabinoid elimination investigations performed in the 1980's may no longer be applicable to estimating the detection window for marijuana in urine using today¹s testing methodologies."
After reviewing data from more recent clinical investigations of chronic marijuana smokers, the author reports that the "average detection window for cannabinoids in urine at the lowest cutoff concentration of 20 ng/ml was just 14 days." However, the author also notes that a minority of subjects continue to test positive for cannabis metabolites after 28 days, even when tested by more advanced drug-testing technology.
Approximately 55 million drug screens are performed annually in the United States. The majority of these are workplace urinalysis tests, which detect the presence of drug metabolites (inert byproducts produced after a substance is metabolized by the body), but not the substance itself. Consequently, the US Department of Justice affirms that a positive drug test result for the presence of a drug metabolite "does not indicate ... recency, frequency, or amount of use; or impairment."
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "The marijuana detection window: Determining the length of time cannabinoids will remain detectable in urine following smoking," is available online at: http://www.ncdi.org/ndcirpub.html

IACM-Bulletin of 5 March 2006
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* Science: Cannabis and THC effective in the treatment of
idiopathic intracranial hypertension
* Science: Detection time of regular THC use in urine shorter
than often assumed

1.

Science: Cannabis and THC effective in the treatment of
idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Scientists of the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New
York City presented a case report on a woman diagnosed with
a longstanding history of idiopathic intracranial hypertension
reported improvement of headaches, photosensitivity, transient
blindness, enlarged blind spots, and tinnitus after smoking
cannabis. All these symptoms and signs, including papilledema
(swelling of the optic nerves where they enter the eyes), were
associated with increased intracranial pressure. This means that
the use of cannabis effectively decreased intracranial pressure.
Treatment with THC at a dose of 10 mg twice a day, then
reduced to 5 mg twice a day, was also effective.

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a neurological disorder
characterized by high pressure in the fluid around the brain. It is
also known as pseudotumor cerebri because there are some of
the signs and symptoms of a brain tumour without a brain tumour
being present. The space around the brain is filled with a water-
like fluid, the cerebral-spinal fluid (CSF). If there is too much of
CSF present the pressure on the brain rises. The cause of the
disease is unknown. It is mainly found in overweight women of
childbearing age and only rarely in thin men.

(Source: Raby WN, Modica PA, Wolintz RJ, Murtaugh K.
Dronabinol reduces signs and symptoms of idiopathic
intracranial hypertension: a case report. J Ocul Pharmacol Ther
2006;22(1):68-75)

2.

Science: Detection time of regular THC use in urine shorter than
often assumed

According to a review in the current issue of the journal Drug
Court Review "it is uncommon for occasional marijuana smokers
to test positive for cannabinoids in urine for longer than seven
days using standard cutoff concentrations. Following smoking
cessation, chronic smokers would not be expected to remain
positive for longer than 21 days, even when using the 20 ng/mL
cannabinoid cutoff." By using a cut-off of 50 ng/ml in drug
screening assays the detection window would typically be not
longer than ten days for regular users and between 3-4 days for
occasional users.

The author, Dr. Paul Cary of the University of Missouri, noted
that it is usually assumed by scientists, the legal system and users
of cannabis that the use of cannabis is detectable in the urine by
drug screenings 30 days or longer after last consumption.
However, he points out that many studies that found a long
detection time had major methodical weaknesses. The most
serious of these limiting factors would be "the inability to assure
marijuana abstinence of the subjects during the studies."

Despite these limitations of the available studies his analysis
revealed that very long cannabinoid detection times (30 days or
more) are rare. The average detection window for the THC
metabolite THC-COOH in urine of regular cannabis users at a
cut-off concentration of 20 ng/ml in the studies reviewed by Dr.
Cary was 14 days. In many of the studies "only one single
subject was the source of the maximum cannabinoid detection
time." He concluded that "these rare occurrences have had a
disproportional influence" on the perception on the length
cannabis use can be detected in urine after last consumption.

That's the facts JACK! Now what!! WHAT!! What!!!

Pot or THC is stored in your fat and any amount will take at least 4 weeks to get rid of it for drug testing.

I'm sorry but I had to come back and see this.. just because you learned to google doesn't mean everything you quote is right. like BloodshotI'z saidThis doesn't seem about your friend anymore, it seems like you are just trying to make a group of people look stupid.You can debate all you want, and quote whatever you want. None of this makes any of it true. All you are succeeding in doing is making yourself look more and more childish with posts like this:

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Well he just spoke with him. He passed his DOT test, that's DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION and it's been less than a week. I guess you people who claim to know so much, know very little. A month for 1 bowl? Remind me never to look back at this site again. Even you Roseman, I thought you had some sense, I thought wrong.

I knew there was a reason I stopped using this board. Now I remember! Look it's ok to be wrong, 95% of you were. Me and the other guy who agrees has some sense at least. Later FREAKS!

I thought you had a clue, now I put your mentality up against a "BOX OF ROCKS". WTF are you thinking? I think you might have smoked away your braincells long ago. Someone tokes a few hits off a bowl and they aren't clean for a month? OMG! I got some ocean front property in Kansas for you.....

buh bye annoying little fuck.

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Rep me if I help.
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