How Long Does Cocaine Stay In Your System? Your Questions on Cocaine Detection Time Answered

Have you ever been afraid of getting randomly drug tested by your job? If you take illicit substances, including cocaine, it’s a real concern. The result of those tests can change your life.

Around 326,000 Floridians used cocaine in 2021. Some of them inevitably faced those dreaded drug tests, and faced the consequences. Knowing how long those tests can detect cocaine will give you some control over the situation – and maybe make you think twice about taking more cocaine.

Our goal at Real Recovery Solutions is to make you think twice, but we also want you to be informed about any substance you’re putting in your body.

So, how long does cocaine stay in your system? Let’s answer that question.

How Cocaine Is Metabolized in the Body: What Are Metabolites?

Your liver is the MVP when it comes to detoxing, and cocaine is metabolized — or processed – in the liver. It breaks cocaine down into substances called metabolites. These are significantly less harmful to your body and are a natural part of the detox process. The metabolites stick around in your system longer than cocaine in its pure form, and their concentration in urine is significantly higher. It isn’t cocaine itself that’s detected on drug tests – it’s the metabolites. 

How Long It Takes for Cocaine to Leave Your System: Can You Tell Without Testing?

How long it takes cocaine to leave your system depends on what exactly you mean.

If you actually mean, “How long do the effects of cocaine last?” know that how long you feel cocaine in your system is significantly less than how long cocaine and its metabolites stay in your body. The effects of cocaine wear off quickly, lasting about an hour and a half at most. Meanwhile, cocaine metabolites are detectable in your hair for nearly 90 days.

Cocaine’s half-life is thought to be about an hour. That means it takes an hour for your body to eliminate half of the cocaine you put in it. An hour after that, you will have half of that amount left in your body – a fourth of the original dose. This process continues until cocaine is broken down into metabolites and all the metabolites leave your body through sweat, urine, and feces. Keep in mind that metabolites stick around for longer than cocaine itself, so even if you work out the half-life math, it’ll be hard to know how many metabolites you still have lurking.

Exactly how long it takes cocaine and its metabolites to leave your system and become undetectable on drug tests depends on a lot of factors. That means you can’t take your friend’s advice on how long it took for cocaine to leave their system as law. It’ll be different for you, and you won’t know how many metabolites are in your system without a drug test.

Factors That Can Affect How Long Cocaine Remains in Your System: Does Dosage Make a Difference?

What are those factors that influence how long cocaine and its metabolites stay in your system, then? The major ones are:

• The amount and frequency of cocaine taken. When you take more cocaine, its metabolites can build up in your system. More metabolites mean more for your body to eliminate, which takes additional time before all traces are gone.
• Your health and metabolism. If you have a faster metabolism, your body will get rid of cocaine and its metabolites faster. Your overall physical health, age, and weight all influence this. If you have liver complications, it’ll definitely take longer to break down and eliminate cocaine. There are also certain chemicals in your blood used to metabolize cocaine, and the less you have of those, the longer cocaine will take to process.
• What you eat and drink. Your diet and hydration levels also impact your metabolism, which impacts how quickly cocaine and its metabolites leave your system. Eating nutritious meals and drinking plenty of water can help your body process it faster. The opposite is also true.

Does Method of Use Influence How Long Cocaine Is in Your System?

The way you take cocaine does influence how long you feel its effects, which might lead you to believe the method of administration influences how long cocaine stays in your system. It can influence the half-life of cocaine, but it doesn’t change how long it takes to get rid of cocaine’s metabolites in your body. That means your body eliminates cocaine metabolites at the same speed, no matter how you take cocaine.

If you’re here wondering how the method of administration influences how long you feel the effects of cocaine, though, we can break that down too.

• Snorting cocaine produces effects in 3-5 minutes. They wear off in 45 minutes to an hour.
• Smoking cocaine produces effects within seconds. They wear off in 10-20 minutes.
• Injecting cocaine produces effects within seconds. They wear off in 15-20 minutes.
• Orally taking cocaine produces effects within 10 minutes. They wear off in 90 minutes

What About Combining It With Alcohol or Other Substances?

Alcohol slows down the process that breaks down and eliminates cocaine in your body by about 20%.

Combining cocaine with alcohol also creates a different kind of metabolite, which is thought to make cocaine and alcohol even harder on your body – especially your heart.

Having both cocaine and alcohol in your system is dangerous, too, aside from how it impacts your heart. The stimulant effects of cocaine and the depressant effects of alcohol can “mask” each other, making their impact feel weaker. This often leads whoever is mixing the substances to use even more of them. Despite the perceived weaker effects, your body is still working hard to process and break down cocaine and alcohol to keep you safe. These substances are toxic, though, and if you put more in your body than it can comfortably break down, the toxicity becomes too high for it to function. This is how people overdose.

There isn’t clear research determining how mixing cocaine with substances other than alcohol affects the elimination of cocaine and its metabolites. We do know that it’s always more dangerous than taking cocaine alone.

How Long Cocaine Can Be Detected on Drug Tests: Does That Vary, Too?

How long cocaine is detected on drug tests depends on the kind of drug test you use. That goes for different types, like urine, blood, saliva, and hair tests, and for tests of the same type under different manufacturers. For example, you may test positive on one urine test and not the other, because the first one requires fewer cocaine metabolites in your urine to count as a positive.

That’s something you can’t predict without access to the box the tests come in, but there are some expected detection windows for each type of drug test. Keep in mind that these average time windows are just estimates, so cocaine may be detectable in your system for shorter or longer.

Urine Tests

Urine tests are non-invasive and relatively easy to perform, making them the number one choice for cocaine drug tests. Cocaine’s metabolites are typically detectable in urine for up to 3 days.

Blood Tests

Since cocaine gets into your bloodstream so quickly, blood tests can be good for detecting incredibly recent cocaine use. That’s about it, though, because cocaine can be undetectable in your bloodstream in as few as 3 hours, though it might be detectable for up to 2 days for some.

Saliva Tests

Cocaine is detectable in saliva within minutes, so like blood tests, saliva testing is good for short-term testing. Unlike blood tests, though, saliva tests tend to detect cocaine less often. They’re also hard to perform if the person has a dry mouth. Cocaine and its metabolites can be detected in saliva for 5-48 hours.

Hair Tests

Cocaine metabolites can stay in your hair for a spectacularly long time – around 90 days. That makes it a good indicator of long-term cocaine use, though it can’t tell you the exact time and amount. They also give false negatives sometimes.

Treatment Options for Cocaine Addiction (Cocaine Use Disorder) in Tampa, Florida

Are you sick of that nagging fear of being randomly drug-tested? Keeping your cocaine habit a secret is exhausting. Living with a cocaine use disorder is also exhausting.

It doesn’t have to be that way. You can look into cocaine addiction treatment and take the first step toward getting your life back today. It’s hard work, but it’s well worth it, and so many people are ready to support you on your journey to recovery.

Real Recovery Solutions is Florida’s largest sober living network. We provide treatment and long-term housing for people in the early stages of their recovery from substance use disorders. Not only that, but we also offer case management services to set you up for success. We’ll help with food stamps, offer gym memberships, and get you connected to free education opportunities and transitional housing if you need it. Ready to get started? Give us a call at 813-373-6762 today.

Real people. Real solutions. Real results.