Could exposure to marijuana cause a positive drug test?

Question

No one ever said parenting was easy. I am the parent of a 13 year old girl, the youngest of 3. We found out a couple of months ago she had been smoking marijuana with her best friend. Of course the promises came that it wouldn't happen again and now it is my understanding she has been "exposed" to it again. She is telling me that her only exposure was being around people who were smoking and blowing it in her face outdoors and that is what would make her test positive. I am pretty sure that is a load of bologna. I need some confirmation that if the only exposure to pot she had was last week, outside, with someone blowing it in her face while she was talking, that it isn't enough to make the test positive. Any feedback is appreciated.

Answer 1

In order for second hand smoke to make your daughter test positive, exposure has to be prolonged and concentrated. Smoke blown in her face outdoors would never make her test positive. So discard any of her attempts to pull the wool over your eyes. Marijuana, when smoked regularly will produce a positive result up to 50 days after stopping its use. No other drug tests positive that long after abstention. Heroin, and cocaine will be out of your system no more than 36 hours after abstention. Barbiturates and amphetamines will remain a bit longer (72-96 hours). I will not give you the complete list but suffice it to say that Cannabis Sativa Indica (marijuana) remains the longest in your system.

The particular method used for testing will give you more accurate results. Drug testing done with saliva and skin samples taken from the inside of your mouth with a cotton swab give much better results than urine testing. A hair sample, by far, is the best method available to date. This type of test can give you results whether the drug was taken five minutes ago or 50 years ago. One hair from your head is all that is needed to produce results that can tell you all the drugs ever ingested along with a very plausible time frame for each drug. I hope this gives you a bit of insight into your situation. Be as proactive as you can to get her off the drugs and away from the bad influences!

Answer 2

THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) can stay in a person's body for as long as 3 to 90 days after smoking or being ingested orally.
If you smoke it occasionally it will remain in your system for up to 10 days. If you smoke marijuana on a regular basis it will stay in your system for as long as 45 days, and if you smoke marijuana at a constant pace, it can stay in the body for 90 days, Marijuana is fat soluble. It stores in the fat cells of the body, the brain, the liver, the kidneys, in other words the major organs.

Delta-9-THC enters the bloodstream rapidly after smoking (in minutes) or more slowly when ingested orally (20 minutes to 1.5 hours). It is rapidly metabolized into inert molecules known as metabolites. These chemicals also have the word Tetrahydrocannabinol in them and are called THC, which can be quite confusing.


Delta-9-THC is detectable in the blood for a few hours, but none of this active chemical is found in the urine or stored in the fatty tissues such as the liver and brain.


What is frequently described as THC's lingering in the body fluids and organs are metabolites of Delta-9-THC, the inert substances that the body disposes of in the urine and excrement, in much the same way as it disposes with Vitamin A. It is these that are detected in the body organs and urine, long after the effects of Delta-9-THC have worn off. These metabolites can linger more than 90 days in some cases. For occasional users, an average of 13 days was recorded. Some people had metabolites detectable for just three days; others found the substances still in the urine after up to 30 days

Second-hand marijuana smoke — buzz producing, or not — can leave traces of the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in your urine for a day or so after breathing the smoke. Usually, the amount is not enough to make you test positive. Most drug tests have intentionally high standards to avoid false positive results due to incidental ingestion of second-hand smoke.


Dont be too rough on your daughter. Experimentation is normal. I experimented as a teen and now I am a mother of three and have a successful career.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Well,does she ask to get out of the house often and stuff like that?Does she come home late,slacking lately in school and at home?Yes it is possible to have a positive drug test if she has marijuana blown in her face it's caused by 2nd hand smoking.But other than that,seriously why would your daughter hang around drug addicts though?I mean she could start doing it,especially if she's under pressure and her friends are doing it too.

Answer 4

Kam, we had a Canadian sknowboarder at the Olympics that used that same theory and it worked for him. So who knows. But fact of life is that all teens, majority of them anyway, are going to experiment. Providing they use responsibly and recreationally then it usually is not a problem for most parents. It is when they become a cronic user, or their choice of associates are using heavy that parents need to become concerned. Personally I have three sons and told them all when they were growing up that I would rather they smoke pot than drink anytime. Luckily they are all grown up now and none have any substance issues, and are all responsible adults now. Your best bet I would think in getting the proper answer to this question would be from your doctor rather than a bunch of strangers on this site. Best of luck to you and yours.

Answer 5

it could lead to a positive drug test however the results would show very faint evidence of weed. Whoever is in charge of the test should be able to tell if her story is even plausible. But it is very likely that she did smoke.

Answer 6

Speaking from experience, you can't test positive just by "having it blown in your face." And i used that excuse with my grandma wayyyyyyyy to many times as a teenager. If she won't listen to you, then seek professional help. She may resist, but in the long run she'll respect you for it.

Answer 7

I have actually used this excuse before as a teenager.My advise to you is to wise up and use the common sense the Lord gave you.Your daughter is smoking marijuana.I'm telling you this as one father to another.Deal with it as you see fit, but it needs to be dealt with swiftly.

Answer 8

She is feeding you bologna. She is hanging out with the wrong crowd which needs to be addressed.

Answer 9

Probably not as Second hand smoke is not as effective as direct smoke

Answer 10

Yes it could but she should leave when people around her are doing drugs anyways.Those are not good friends for her to be around.