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Tetrahydrocannabinol

What the body does with Tetrahydrocannabinol, from the dose to the exit, as its Wikipedia drug infobox records it.

Quoted from the Wikipedia infobox, not yet written up by hand. The order is the usual order of events, not a measured schedule.

Tetrahydrocannabinoltaken11-Hydroxy-THCmetaboliteExit65–80% (feces); 20–35% (urine) as acid m

The clock, on a log scale

Each bar runs from the dose to about five half-lives, roughly when 97% of that molecule has been converted or cleared. The scale is logarithmic so minutes and days fit on one line.

  1. 0 → onsetdose

    Onset

    Inhalation: Within seconds to minutes 1

  2. doseabsorbed

    Bioavailability

    Oral: 6–20%; Inhalation: 10–35% 1

  3. hoursbreakdown

    Metabolism

    Mostly hepatic by CYP2C 1

  4. hoursmade from it

    Metabolites

    11-OH-delta-9-THC, and others 1

  5. hoursfrom the article text

    What else it turns into

    “Following oral administration, concentrations of THC and its major active metabolite 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC) peak after 0.5 to 4 hours, with median time to peak of 1.0 to 2.5 hours at different doses.” 2

  6. half-lifehalf gone

    Elimination half-life

    1.6–59 hours; 25–36 hours (orally administered dronabinol) 1

  7. durationeffects

    Duration of action

    Oral: 4–10 hours; Inhalation: 2–4 hours 1

  8. exitleaves the body

    Excretion

    65–80% (feces); 20–35% (urine) as acid metabolites 1

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Tetrahydrocannabinol, drug infobox (revision 1377727370), CC BY-SA 4.0. Values quoted as they appear, with wiki markup removed.
  2. Wikipedia, Tetrahydrocannabinol, article text (revision 1377727370), CC BY-SA 4.0. Sentences quoted as they appear.

Half-lives vary between people, doses and routes. This page explains what the body does with a drug. It is not dosing advice.