I was planning on going to donate blood again in a few weeks and a friend of mine mentioned she would come along and donate but she is unsure how long she needs go without smoking weed befor we go donate?
I realize that pot is detectable for up to 6weeks cause it stores in your fat cells or something like that, But how long is it in your blood for?
last time i donated the women asked me some questions regarding taking headacke tablets and said they are in your blood for a few days and thats what makes me wonder how long weed will be in there for.
The length of time pot stays in your blood is a function of how much you use. Typically, I beleive it’s between two and about six or eight weeks. However, I’m not sure they care. I’ve had plenty of pot head friends donate blood without any problems.
IANAD, but from here:
cite (Bolding mine)
I don’t know the specific answer, but tell her to wait a similar amount of time that she would wait before taking a drug test if she were applying for a new job, so it is subjective.
When I worked at a blood bank in Glasgow, we didn’t ask about illegal drugs. I suspect, though, that this was not so much because there was no possible risk to transfusion recipients, but more to do with the low probability of getting honest answers to our questions.
Oh, correction - we did ask about IV narcotic use, for obvious reasons.
So how long do you guys think its worth waiting?
I’m a regular donor. I called one of the nurses at the center where I always go. She said pot is fine as long as you’re not under the influence at the time you go in for the donation. And I don’t think she believed me when I said I was calling on behalf of a “friend”.
The rules vary a bit depending on who the authrority is that governs blood donations where you are (like U.S., Canada, UK, etc). Generally, the stuff that will get you temporarily deferred is anti-inflammatory drugs (24-26 hours), aspirin and related products (36-48 hours), alcohol (12 hours).
Some blood donation orgainizations also have rules for cocaine that was “snorted through the nose”. That can also get you a year long deferral.
Is it higher risk or something?
(Actually, I can probably look that up myself.)
It’s also a function of metabolism.
The slower the metabolism the longer the weed stays in the system. Whatever, Joey’s guesstimate of 6 to 8 weeks should do the trick if the OP is really concerned about this. However, it should be noted there is no definitive answer to the question.
Apropos, it’s a good thing people don’t donate hair. Scouting around various websites it seems that weed is detectable in hair for between 2 and 5 years.
Thanks heaps for that, much appreciated!
wow never heard that befor, kinda amazing. You got any links to more info on this?
I think people do donate hair. I read it on the SDMB.
I have a source which gives 3 years but the website gives details regarding how to pass drug tests.
I’m unsure whether posting the link will contravene board regulations. I’ll report my own post via yours and either a moderator will step in to advise or I’ll get back to you.
Please note that speculation will be rife on any such source because hard and fast information is thin on the ground.
The real question that needs to be asked here is: when availing oneself of the services of a blood bank (as in receiving, not donating), is it possible to specifically request blood donated by potheads?
“Give him two units of A+ with a hint of Afghan Sticky…”
It depends a lot on how long your hair is. Once it can no longer be detected in your blood, it is not being deposited in your hair. Then it is just waiting until you hair grows out.
No, don’t post the link. We’ll just have to remove it and get all ferklempt and stuff.
They do. One of my colleagues donated some of her hair to them a few years ago.
Locks of Love doesn’t seem to care about what substances might be found in donated hair, though.
Your wish is my command.
Anyway, on the basis of improved research criteria I’m going to downgrade a speculative 2-5 years to a more authoritative 3 months. The link is a New York Times feature from 1995.
Apologies to anyone who has been tearing their hair out since my post #8.
I found the Red Cross page concerning legal drugs, for those interested.
http://www.redcross.org/services/biomed/0,1082,0_557_,00.html
And I guess we all should be, no?
I have an autoimmune disease, so I can’t give anymore, sadly.
Is it ok to pm to me or email? Or is that also against the rules?
Last time i donated they sat me down and went threw most of teh stuff on that site with me. I felt kinda bad about lying to them when they asked if I had a tattoo in the last 12months. But the woman was more concerned about body peiceing than more of the stuff they went threw.