How Long Does Cocaine Stay in Your Body?
Cocaine, also known as coke, is a powerful stimulant. The half-life of cocaine is short, about half an hour, meaning in that time half the amount of cocaine ingested leaves the body, causing an intense but brief high. Cocaine users tend to repeat use regularly in order to continue feeling the short-lived effects of cocaine. You may be wondering how long cocaine stays in your system for a drug screening, however, if you are having a difficult time abstaining from cocaine use for drug tests, you may have a drug addiction issue.
Cocaine stays in your system for 1 to 4 days. How long it stays in your system depends on several factors. According to the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA), cocaine can be detected for 2 to 10 days. Some of the factors that determine this detection window include:
Type of test: drug tests work by detecting metabolites and so the detection window will depend on which metabolites are being tested.
How much you use: the more cocaine you use, the longer it will stay in your system.
How often you use it: again, the more often you use cocaine, the longer it will stay in your system.
How you use it: snorted or gummed cocaine will remain longer in your system than cocaine that is injected or smoked.
Your body composition: higher the body fat, the more cocaine metabolites that accumulate, and the longer the detection window
Purity level: contaminants or other substances in cocaine can affect how long it remains in your system
Drinking alcohol: the use of alcohol with cocaine can cause certain metabolites to stay in the system longer.
How Long Do the Effects of Cocaine Last?
Cocaine is a very fast-acting stimulant with short-term effects lasting only a few minutes to an hour, depending on how it’s used:
Snort cocaine: effects felt within 3 to 5 minutes and last up to 20 minutes
Smoked administration: effects felt within 5 to 10 seconds, lasting up to 20 minutes
Injecting cocaine: effects felt within 5 to 10 seconds and last up to 20 minutes
Oral ingestion: effects felt within 10 to 30 minutes and last up to 90 minutes
The Length of Time Cocaine Can be Detected in Urine
Urine toxicology screening is the most common way of testing for cocaine. Cocaine metabolites can give positive results for up to 3 days in a urine test, but up to 2 weeks for heavy users.
The Length of Time Cocaine Can be Detected in Blood
Blood toxicology screenings can detect cocaine use for up to 2 days. This is the same amount of time for saliva tests.
The Length of Time Cocaine Can be Detected in Hair
Hair test analysis can detect cocaine use for months or years.
How to Get Cocaine Out of Your System
There are no scientifically proven ways to speed up your body by eliminating cocaine or cocaine detox. Drinking more water may help cleanse the body of cocaine metabolites a little faster but this is not proven either. The best way to ensure you will pass drug tests for cocaine or drug abuse is to abstain from using.
If you find that you can no longer control your cocaine use or are experiencing withdrawal symptoms when not using, you may have a drug addiction problem. There are several drug and alcohol treatment programs to fit any level of cocaine addiction or personal needs. Inpatient rehab may be necessary for those with severe cocaine addiction, however, if your cocaine addiction is caught early on or is milder, outpatient addiction treatment may be just as effective. Through outpatient addiction treatment, you can also continue going to work, which is a good option if you do not want your employer to know about any substance abuse issues you may have.
If you would like to get help for substance abuse or would like more information about drug detox or drug rehab, our addiction specialists at Sylvan Detox are ready to help.