Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in raw and live cannabis plants. To get high from pot, you have to heat it up enough for the THCA to decarboxylate into THC.
With more people using marijuana for medical or recreational purposes, it is important to know how long THCA stays in your system if you are concerned about drug tests or your own cannabis consumption control.
This blog post looks at the time THCA remains detectable in different parts of the human body, including hair, saliva, blood, and urine.
How Long Does THCA Stay in Your System?
It depends on determinants like metabolism rate, percentage of body fats, and the type of drug testing applied. Its detection usually occurs after several days or even weeks of the last use.
How Long Does THCA Stay in Your Hair?
Hair testing allows reliable detection of long-term substance abuse problems, including usage of marijuana. For example, some studies indicate that it can be detected there up to 90 days later.
Because they cover a wider range of terms, a hair test is very effective in determining long-term THC usage. Hair testing is accurate but not typically included in routine drug screens due to its high cost and complexity of procedure.
Nonetheless, they are commonly employed by police investigators as well as companies operating in sectors with strict drug statutes.
How Long Does THCA Stay in Your Body?
These metabolites will eventually pass out of the body via the intestines. The amounts of tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) that may be measurable in some, for occasional users, can be eliminated after a few days, while in others they can remain for weeks or even months.
How Long Does THCA Stay in Your Saliva?
The saliva test is becoming more common to detect recent marijuana use due to its non-invasiveness and short detection window. THCA may be detected in saliva for 24-72 hours after the last use.
Saliva tests are commonly used by law enforcement during roadside checks to determine if a driver is under the influence of cannabis.
How Long Does THCA Stay in Your Blood?
Blood analysis may not be widely used for drug screening; however, it has proved effective in identifying people who have used marijuana recently.
The presence of both THCA and its metabolites in the blood can extend up to 24 hours after its last usage, though longer periods might apply to severe consumers.
In clinical settings and suspected drugged driving cases, blood tests are usually done to ascertain the level of impairment that one has undergone through.
How Long Does THCA Stay in Your Pee?
Urine testing is a popular method that helps identify users who have consumed cannabis due to longer detection windows than others. Urine tests detect the metabolites of THCA, which are eliminated via the renal route.
The duration over which it is detectable varies with factors such as hydration status, metabolism rate, and quantity of cannabis used.
The amount of time that THC-A can appear on urine tests will vary depending on these factors:
- Occasional Users: For those individuals who rarely consume this drug, THC-A could still show up on urine screens within three days up to one week after their last dose.
- Regular Users: For those people who consistently use cannabis, THC-A could be present for two weeks or even more.
- Heavy Users: THC-A can still remain detectable in the urine of chronic or heavy users for more than thirty days.
Conclusion
THCA levels in the blood depend on various factors like the type of test involved, the rate at which food is transformed into energy, and the frequency with which one uses marijuana.
It is therefore important to know how long THCA stays in your system, especially if you are monitoring your intake of medical pot or going through a drug screening process.
Saliva and blood tests are good for recent consumption, while hair ones have longer detection windows.
