Drug Detox

How long do drugs stay in your system during drug detox? For starters we should define what a drug is. Drugs are any substance that changes how a person’s body functions when being absorbed. Most discussions about drugs and drug detox usually involve illegal drugs like amphetamines, hallucinogens, opiates or cannabis, but other substances like caffeine and nicotine also affect how your body functions when they are ingested and your body can become dependent on them as well requiring a drug detox when you want to quit.

Factors of Drug Detox

So, how long do drugs stay in your system when you are going through drug detox? This depends on many factors:

1. Physiological characteristics

Your age, physical height and weight, your body mass, and health state can all contribute to how long your body takes to drug detox. As an example, the older a person is, the slower his or her metabolic rate becomes. Thus, the older a person is, the longer a drug will stay in his or her system. Also, the higher one’s body mass is, the longer drugs will stay in their system during drug detox.

2. Frequency of use

Another factor that influences how long drugs stay in your system during drug detox is how frequently you have been using the drugs (one time per day, three times per day, etc.). So how often you use your drug of choice and how long you have been taking drugs can influence how long the substances stay in your body during drug detox.

3. Type of drugs

Certain drugs take longer to metabolize during drug detox. So no matter what your personal metabolic rate is, the chemicals in certain types of drugs take longer to leave your body during drug detox.

Common Drugs and the Length of the Drug Detox

So how long do specific drugs stay in your system during drug detox? Here is a brief list of some common drugs of abuse:

Barbituates (Amytal, Nembutal, Seconal, etc.): 2 to 4 days in urine, 1 to 2 days in blodd
Benzodiazepines (Ativan, Xanax, Librium, Rohypnol, Valium, Roofies, etc.): 3 to 6 weeks in urine, 2 to 8 days in blood
Cocaine (Crack, Flake, Rocks, etc.): 3 to 4 days in urine, 1 to 2 days in blood
Heroin (Horse, Smack, etc.): 3 to 4 days in urine, up to 12 hours in blood
Marijuana (Pot, Herb, etc.): up to 30 days in urine, 2 weeks in blood
MDMA (Ecstasy): 3 to 4 days in urine, 1 to 2 days in blood
Methadone: 3 to 4 days in urine, 24 to 36 hours in blood
Methamphetamines (Crank, Crystal, Glass, Ice, Speed, etc.): 3 to 6 days in urine, 24 to 72 hours in blood
Suboxone: 2 to 5 days in urine, up to 3 days in blood