Stoners beware: exercising might lead to a positive drug test

[waterboy 2.0]

Stoners beware: exercising might lead to a positive drug test

 

Exercise is essential to a healthy lifestyle, but new research led by the University of Sydney shows that for cannabis users, it could also lead to positive drug tests.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main intoxicating ingredient in cannabis, has a strong affinity for fat tissue. Most of the THC consumed when cannabis is smoked ends up being rapidly transferred from the bloodstream into fat cells, where it accumulates and can lie dormant for weeks or even months.

But what happens when you burn the fat that contains this THC?

The study by researchers from the University of Sydney and University of NSW, published in the most recent issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, asked regular cannabis users to exercise at a level that would cause fat to be metabolised – a reasonably tough 35-minute workout on a stationary exercise bike. The cannabis users had all abstained from smoking overnight to ensure low blood levels of THC prior to the exercise.

After the exercise, the researchers found a substantial increase in blood THC in the cannabis users, which in some cases was enough to make the difference between a negative and positive drug test. The rise in blood THC was accompanied by a jump in free fatty acids in the blood, a tell-tale sign that fat was being used as a fuel during the workout.

In an interesting twist, researchers found that the higher the person’s body mass index (BMI), the greater their increase in blood THC levels with exercise. According to the researchers, greater body fat usually accompanies a higher BMI, resulting in a larger reservoir of stored THC that can be released during exercise.

“These results have potentially huge medico-legal implications,” says Professor Iain McGregor, from the University of Sydney’s School of Psychology, who led the research.

“Someone subjected to workplace or roadside drug testing after a visit to the gym could end up testing positive despite an absence of recent cannabis use.

In addition, it may not just be exercise that produces this effect. Other things that increase use of body fat, for example dieting, or physical or psychological stress, might produce a similar or even greater outcome.

The study also looked at the effects of a 12-hour fast on blood THC levels in some users, although this manipulation failed to increase THC in the same way as exercise. The researchers noted that more than 12 hours of fasting may be required to kick fat use into the high gear required to liberate THC.

Future studies are planned to examine whether the raised THC caused by exercise is enough to impair driving ability and memory in regular users.

http://scienceblog.com/66608/stoners-beware-exercising-might-lead-to-a-positive-drug-test/

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Thanks for posting!

[at0m]

Headline rethink:

Lose weight, get high

It's always amused me how the least harmful substance (in regards to illegal drugs) stays in your system for an incredible long time.

[Scrubby]

Thats a great article.

[Justin Credible]

I'll have to ride my pushy while having a puff

[at0m]

**

Edited September 14, 2013 by at0m

[ThunderIdeal]

i dunno about least harmful at0m. that's determined by which angle you look at it from, and from certain angles chronic choofing can be devastating. no need for anyone to get worked up in their response, you could say the same about chronic walks on the beach, or chronic anything. any drug can be dangerous but life is full of seemingly harmless things that might bump you off-course, or randomly lodge in your windpipe quickly causing death.

just pointing out that harmfulness depends on your definition, but also reminding the chronic stoners that pot has dangers and an implicit sense of safety can blind you to them.

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

So the thc goes back into the bloodstream... Does that mean the person exercising gets high?

[bogfrog]

So even tho im stopping the inhalation of smoke, if i go to the gym regularly i will still be out of my mind for another few weeks?

Duno weather im pleased or annoyed at that lol..

[planthelper]

that as well explains further, why my very chubby and lazy friend passes a road side test...

some stoners still exercise a lot, and somehow that "stone high" you get after prolonged exercise is, much better, sort of like in the good old day's, when you started, or like when you were abstinent for a long time.

another thing I noticed is, that after diarrhea, the stone is better as well.

sometimes, if your pattern is, that you stop smoking after a certain period of time, and you experience diarrhea, you suddenly crave to smoke more, although normaly you never smoke again at that period of time.

this probably has to do, with the method of absorbtion, of thc & co, in the body of a human.

[Raoul Duke]

Thanks for posting, I'd heard THC could be stored in body fat and I guess this is the next logical step.

But it's good to confirm it through research. There's a few people I'll have to pass this onto.

Could be a good way to get high when you've run out of money

[ThunderIdeal]

on topic, did i miss something or is there nothing new? particularly on the subject of beating drug tests, shouldn't this all be old news? the part about triggering a roadside swab after exercise seems relevant i guess, but aren't they inaccurate anyway, which means any day you could show positive to a swab and be subjected to a better test is likely to know that you smoked recently.

[planthelper]

yep, for many of us it's old news.

I got a new one though, I found out myself, and hope others have done so as well.

I call it cellular memory withdrawl.

you haven't had pot since 5 years, and you do something which you always have done stoned, the body gives you fake (or maybe even real) withdrawl symptoms.

if there is physical evidence for this occurrence, than it might have to do as well with the fat cells storing the cannabis activa.

maybe this is even the reason for extreme long storage, so you can "remember what you are missing".

Edited September 15, 2013 by planthelper

[waterboy 2.0]

It may be the fine line between occasional/weekend warriors and chronic bob marleys. The study intent wasn't how to beat a drug test, its more about the ultimate fate of THC in the body.

Fat storage has been acknowledged for a while, but how it performs after storage hasn't been clear.

Its the proposed next stage of research that really interests me.

[ThunderIdeal]

PH my knowledge of the subject is very sketchy, and i don't know what terms you could use to look it up.... basically some things trigger the brain to believe it's about to receive a dosage, it is probably usually the pre-dosage ritual. chopping weed, getting the bong out, tells your brain some pot is coming and it starts releasing chemicals presumably to lessen the initial impact. so yes, real effects are felt, and it must have something to do with degree of satisfaction people can get from injecting saline, smoking a nicotine-free e-cig, or whatever, depends what you're a fiend for. it might tie in with the placebo effect, but yes, your chemical mood can change just from thoughts/activities which your brain links with an incoming dose.

[Distracted]

Oh god, this is the best incentive to exercise ever!

Cut a fat stoner off their weed and tell them if they want to get high they have to run for it!

[planthelper]

we pot smokers are the lucky ones...

compared to junkies for example which, get cravings even if they see a spoon,

or white powder people, when they see a mirror...

even a credit card can trigger it, btw never use your cards, at airports they might screen your cards residue...

[ThunderIdeal]

exercising gets everyone high not just stoners.

pot addicts, alcoholics, heroin junkies. dependance is dependance. in my experience pot dependance can dominate somebodies whole life.

Edited September 15, 2013 by ThunderIdeal

[coolname]

i remember back in biology class in high school we were learning about biomagnification with this substitute teacher who thought he was 'cool' and he told us the same thing. if you are a big pothead and starve your self for a day or two you will feel high. so ofcourse i had to try it and did feel a bit different from it

[Francois le Danque]

High enough levels for high? look for "cannabinoid reintoxication" by JA Arnold