If you or a loved one is one of the 17% of all benzodiazepine users who are abusing these drugs to get high, then you may be wondering whether a benzo such as Klonopin will show up on drug tests.
Many benzo abusers simply take whatever benzodiazepines they can get their hands on. Klonopin is unique because it is slow-acting and stays in your system for a long time. If there is any chance that you have taken Klonopin within the past month, you could fail a drug test.
All of the most common methods of drug screening, including at-work lab tests and those conducted in legal settings, look for benzodiazepines like Klonopin. Here’s what you need to know when it comes to Klonopin and test detection times:
How Long Does Klonopin Stay in Your Urine?
Klonopin is detectable in urine for far longer than most other drugs. While the typical drug might be detectable for a few days to a week, Klonopin can be found in urine for 3-4 weeks after the last time taken.
Urine tests are the most common types of drug tests. They are especially popular in the workplace. This is mainly due to the fact that they are cheap to obtain, and are not an invasive form of sampling. Furthermore, they can detect drugs for a relatively long period of time when compared with many other forms of testing.
Still, you can’t be sure that a drug test will use urine sampling. There are three more commonly administered types of tests:
How Long Does Klonopin Stay in Your Hair?
Hair testing for Klonopin can detect its main active ingredient, clonazepam, for a duration of 1 month or longer.
While the results vary from person to person, hair testing can generally detect substances like Klonopin for longer than other forms of testing.
Despite the long detection times of hair testing, they are less commonly used. This is because they are notoriously less accurate than many other kinds of tests, they are more expensive, and they are more invasive.
How Long Does Klonopin Stay in Your Blood?
The half-life of clonazepam is far longer than that of many other drugs. With a half-life of 20 to 50 hours, Klonopin can stay in the bloodstream for 4 days or more.
Blood testing is an invasive form of testing because it requires the drawing of blood. While very accurate, it has a smaller detection window than that of urine. For these reasons, blood testing is rarely conducted in the workplace, but commonly found in law enforcement settings.
How Long Does Klonopin Stay in Your Saliva?
Klonopin and its metabolites (the chemicals your body produces to break down clonazepam) can be found in your saliva for 7-9 days after the last use.
Saliva tests are routinely used by police officers who are conducting drug tests in the field because they suspect someone is under the influence.
They are less commonly used in the workplace. Saliva tests are expensive to conduct compared with urine tests, and while minimally invasive, they generally have a shorter detection window.
Factors That Affect How Long Does Klonopin Stay in Your System
The type of drug test you are subjected to is an important factor to consider, but it is not the only thing you should take into mind. The rate at which each user can remove Klonopin from their body is not the same for everyone, and will vary according to a number of factors:
Physical Factors
Everyone’s body is different. How long a drug like Klonopin stays in one’s system is directly related to that individual’s:
- Height
- Age
- Metabolism
- Body fat percentage
- Genetics
- Overall health
In general, people who are younger and healthier will tend to process Klonopin at a higher rate, removing it from their systems faster. When it comes to drugs and toxins, the function of the liver and kidneys is of particular importance.
Klonopin Use Specifics
Just as every user’s body is different, every person has a different history of Klonopin use. Heavy use, meaning a high dosage taken with a high frequency of use, especially over a long period of time, will result in a build-up of clonazepam in your system.
People who abuse Klonopin for its brain effects typically build a tolerance to it and begin to use the drug more heavily. This can result in longer detection times on drug tests, as well as longer withdrawal periods.
Mental Factors
Science continues to demonstrate the mind-body connection. It has been shown that conditions like depression and anxiety may negatively impact our ability to remove toxins from our bodies.
This can increase detection times on drug tests, and negatively impact our health.
Treatment for Klonopin Addiction
Klonopin abuse is a serious problem. If you are concerned about how long this drug lasts in your body, you likely have more serious issues to address. Abusing this drug can lead to addiction and fatal overdose in the blink of an eye.
If you or a loved one has been abusing Klonopin, now is the time to act. Call Recovering Champions immediately to discuss options for treatment and to get started on the road to recovery.
