Can drugs still be detected after they wear off?

With alcohol, once the effects of the drug wear off, it has generally left your system. If you wait 24 hours after drinking, for instance, you will likely not feel impaired at all, and your BAC would come back at 0.00%. How you feel directly relates to how much alcohol is in your system.

But what about other drugs? Say you use marijuana. The effects wear off after a couple of hours, and you feel fine again. Would you now test negative for marijuana in your system, or could it still be detected?

It all depends on the drug

Different drugs all show up for different amounts of time, and the type of test used also plays a massive role. For instance, alcohol can be detected in a urine test for around 48 hours, at most. Marijuana, on the other hand, could show up in that same urine test for up to 30 days. It could show up in a hair test for up to 90 days (as could alcohol).

It’s safe to say that you will not be impaired at all after 30 days, but that does not mean that the drug use is undetectable. That’s an important distinction. The traces of it can last much longer in your system than the effects of that drug — and this is true for much more than just marijuana. These tests could still be used against you in a drug case.

Are you facing charges?

If you have been arrested on drug charges, it’s important to learn as much as you can about the legal system and all of the rights and options that you have.