What have you been smoking? A marihuana question from D.

If i took one hit of a bong 2 weeks ago would i pass a drug test? even if i drank alot of water?

Dr. Joshua’s answer:

The most common test for cannabinoid use is the urine test. Casual use may be detected after two weeks. Drinking a lot of water may or may not help - due to the pharmacokinetics (the way the drug is processed by the body) of cannabinoids, the elimination of cannabinoids can vary from person to person. Conceivably, if you are overweight, the drug and its metabolites may remain in your body longer, since cannabinoids can accumulate in body fat. Usually, the urine test will detect a single cannabis use after several days, up to a week or more - it is possible that you will test negative after two weeks, but I wouldn’t count on it. However, the tests are not Word of God: someone who has never used marihuana may test positive on a urine test, and there are further test (mass spectrometry, which is highly reliable, for instance) that should be done if the original test is positive. For example, a person who is on ibuprofen may test positive for cannabinoids.

There are other methods of testing: the hair test for instance, which can detect cannabis use for, theoretically, up to months after use (no use shaving - you’d need to shave _all_ of it. However, this is not commonly done as it is quite expensive as a screening method.

It really depends on why you are being tested. Are you being tested for habitual use, suspected of impaired performance - what is the reason for your test? If the tester wants to know whether you are a _chronic_ cannabis user, and you test a single positive urine test with follow-ups negative, and your perfomance is OK, it shouldn’t be a problem. However, if there is reason to believe your work is affected by drug use and you test positive, you may be in for some trouble.

Sorry, I cannot answer you question for sure. You may test negative, and you may test positive, and, if you do test positive, I don’t know what the consequences would be in your case.

Good luck,

Dr. Joshua

Tags: Back Pain