How Long Does Vaped CBD Stay in Your System?

By | Updated on February 21, 2024

Medically reviewed by
Saira Zulfiqar

Evidence Based 10

Key takeaways:

  • The length of time it takes CBD to leave your body depends on how much you vape, how often, and your genetics
  • If you vape CBD rarely, it will likely clear out of your body after 5-6 hours
  • If you vape CBD regularly, it will likely take a few days or up to a week to clear

Many people prefer to vape cannabidiol (CBD) because its effects are instant. The lungs are highly efficient at absorbing small, fat-soluble molecules such as CBD. It’s able to go straight into your bloodstream and start working right away (1).

For this same reason, vaped CBD is eliminated from your body quicker than other methods. However, the precise duration can vary quite a bit depending on several factors. Here’s how long CBD from vaping can stay in your system.

Factors to Keep in Mind

The exact length of time that CBD will stay in your body depends on multiple variables, including the dosage, how often you vape, how much you weigh, and your unique body chemistry and genetics. 

CBD Vape Dosage

Like most substances, the more CBD you take, the longer it will stay in your system. It takes your body (especially the liver) some time to process any substance that comes in, so the more CBD you take, the longer it takes.

How Often You Vape CBD

How often you vape also matters. If you only vape CBD occasionally, it has no chance to build up in your body. But if you vape every day, your body can begin to store in your fat tissue (like other cannabinoids), which means it can stay around for longer (2).

Body Chemistry

Another factor that shouldn’t be overlooked is that everyone’s body is unique. For example, your body’s metabolism might be quicker than normal, which means it can process CBD from vape juice quicker (3).

Age can be a factor too, since our metabolism slows down as we get older (4). The genes related to your endocannabinoid system (ECS) can play a role as well.

For example, there are dozens of known variations of the gene for FAAH, the enzyme that breaks down one of the main endocannabinoids made by our bodies (5).

What Does the Research Say?

Unfortunately, most of the scientific studies of CBD administer it orally (as capsules) or sublingually (as oil) rather than via inhalation (vaping and smoking). For this reason, it’s difficult to say precisely how long the CBD from vaping will stay in your system. 

Still, in one study of cannabis cigarettes, which contained a small amount (0.25%) of CBD, cannabidiol levels were no longer detectable an hour after smoking (7). 

Also, a study using a nebulizer, a device that creates an inhalable mist that’s somewhat similar to the vapor produced by a vaporizer, reported that CBD’s half-life (the amount of time it takes for the concentration of a substance you took to be reduced by 50%) was 1.1 hours.

Considering that about five half-lives are enough to almost completely eliminate a drug (8), we can estimate that CBD inhaled from vaping will stay in your system for about 5-6 hours. However, this situation assumes that you only used CBD once.

Another 2018 review paper concluded that CBD’s half-life can vary anywhere from an hour to 5 days depending on the way and how often you take CBD (9).

One thing we can say for certain is that if you use CBD regularly, it will take longer to clear out from your body. For example, in one 1991 study, it took more than a week for CBD to be undetectable in the blood of people who took large oral doses (700 mg) daily for six weeks (10). 

Still, since inhaled CBD is cleared out of the body faster than oral preparations, we can likely lower this number down to a maximum of one week for people who vape every day.

The Bottom Line

There isn’t enough research to give you a precise answer to how long vaped CBD will stay in your system. 

We can estimate that CBD will clear out of your body about 5-6 hours after vaping if you vape rarely. However, if you vape regularly, it may take several days or even a week for it to leave your system.

Whatever the case, the great thing about CBD is that it’s non-intoxicating and doesn’t show up on drug tests, so you don’t need to worry. 

The only thing to be aware of is that full-spectrum CBD products contain small amounts of THC (0.3% or less), which could potentially show up on a drug test. 

If you’re worried about drug tests, it’s better to use vape products made with pure CBD isolate, which shouldn’t contain any THC. You should also check the product’s third-party test reports to verify that there’s no THC.

References

  1. Patton, John S., C. Simone Fishburn, and Jeffry G. Weers. “The lungs as a portal of entry for systemic drug delivery.” Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society 1.4 (2004): 338-344.
  2. Gunasekaran, N., et al. “Reintoxication: the release of fat‐stored Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) into blood is enhanced by food deprivation or ACTH exposure.” British journal of pharmacology 158.5 (2009): 1330-1337.
  3. Nemoto, N. “Individual difference in drug metabolism–pharmacogenetical approach.” Gan to kagaku ryoho. Cancer & chemotherapy 9.5 (1982): 757-765.
  4. Le Couteur, David G., Andrew J. McLachlan, and Rafael de Cabo. “Aging, drugs, and drug metabolism.” (2012): 137-139.
  5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/clinvar/?term=faah+%5Bgene%5D
  6. Bruni, Natascia, et al. “Cannabinoid delivery systems for pain and inflammation treatment.” Molecules 23.10 (2018): 2478.
  7. Schwope, David M., et al. “Identification of recent cannabis use: whole-blood and plasma free and glucuronidated cannabinoid pharmacokinetics following controlled smoked cannabis administration.” Clinical chemistry 57.10 (2011): 1406-1414.
  8. Hallare, Jericho, and Valerie Gerriets. “Half Life.” (2020).
  9. Millar, Sophie A., et al. “A systematic review on the pharmacokinetics of cannabidiol in humans.” Frontiers in pharmacology 9 (2018): 1365.
  10. Consroe, Paul, Kurt Kennedy, and Karl Schram. “Assay of plasma cannabidiol by capillary gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectroscopy following high-dose repeated daily oral administration in humans.” Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 40.3 (1991): 517-522.

Leave a Comment