If you smoke weed, it means that its substances will be absorbed by your body, but does that prevent you from donating blood?
In this article, we will look into whether you can donate blood if you smoke weed regularly or if you have simply smoked the day before.
Can You Donate Blood If You Smoke Weed?
The answer is yes, you can donate blood if you generally smoke weed.
Whenever you smoke weed, the majority of it is removed from the body in the form of metabolites within 5 days (see also “Can You Smoke Weed Stems?“).
As such, if you are a light pothead and avoid smoking weed for 5 days, your blood will most likely have retained little cannabis, if any at all.
Even if you smoke a lot, cannabis your body’s tissues are the ones absorbing almost all of it, with urine being your body’s way of excreting it.
Even though blood transports every one of these tissues, from the whole amount of cannabis you consume, the majority of it ends up somewhere else in the blood or is metabolized in it.
As reported by most of the online sources you can go through, there are countless subjective anecdotal stories about smoking weed before heading to donate blood, most of which end with no weird or unfortunate incidents.
Many individuals recommend waiting to donate blood until 24 hours from the last joint you puffed has passed, although there’s no actual reason to do so other than you not being still high when visiting the blood bank.
Do Health Centers Test You For Weed?
The U.S. Food And Drug Administration requires some tests before you donate blood which are, however, focused on checking your iron and cholesterol levels rather than the THC levels in your blood.
Moreover, legal or illicit marijuana consumption is not a reason for denying someone’s blood donation which means that no one can say ‘no’ to you wanting to donate blood if you enjoy smoking weed.
To put it simply, you can freely donate blood regardless of how much and how often you smoke weed (see also “Does Smoking Weed Cause Acne?“).
Can I Be High While I Am Donating Blood?
The answer is obviously no, and that is simply because the blood bank you are visiting will not allow any donations from individuals who are intoxicated.
This applies to other kinds of intoxication like that from alcohol or drugs, as the blood banks require the donors to be completely sober and consciously offer their consent to drawing blood from them.
As a result, if you are high at the time of visiting the blood bank — and thus unable to give them your proper and fully conscious permission to take blood from you — just about all blood banks will refuse your donation.
Yet even though blood banks and health centers do not support smoking weed or tobacco in the same way they don’t promote the consumption of alcohol and drugs, they do not generally dismiss a person who wishes to donate blood.
Can They Report That I’m Smoking Weed If I Donate Blood?
So, you’re in a situation where you’d like to prevent your smoking habit from being reported. Would this mean that by donating blood, the health center professionals or your close people will be let in on your secret?
Since as we said there are no known facilities that are testing for THC, there’s no reason to fear that anyone will know you’ve been smoking weed the past week, months, or years (see also “Can You Smoke Weed With A Concussion?“).
However, to be absolutely certain your habits will remain a secret, you can ask your local blood bank about the tests they run before donating blood to make sure you’re safe.
How To Prepare Before You Donate Blood
While you can still smoke weed a few days before donating blood (see also “Can You Smoke Weed On Antibiotics?“), if you are determined to do this selfless action, we suggest you prepare your body accordingly and refrain from smoking weed for a week.
Other than that, there are some other things you can do a few days before your appointment to make sure you won’t suffer from low blood pressure or feel bad before or after you’ve donated blood.
Consume Healthy And Balanced Meals
We strongly advise eating both before and following your blood donation, as well as making these meals is healthy and balanced as you can.
The FDA requires a blood donor’s iron levels to be within an acceptable, safe range for them to make a blood donation, with the women’s range being between 12.5 and 17.1 and men’s between 13 and 171.
So, if you don’t want to be rejected because of your low iron levels, make sure to eat food rich in iron, like red meat, spinach, and lentils, the days before your appointment.
Hydrate (A Lot)
Drinking sufficient amounts of water is the second step toward a successful blood donation. Water is essential for everyone, but it is especially important when going to donate blood.
Water hydrates your arteries, helping to make them easily identifiable to your healthcare professional, and it also aids in the recovery of your body after making your blood donation.
Last but not least, on the day of your appointment, make sure to bring your ID with you for identification purposes at the health center.
Some facilities allow for different types of identification, so you can always contact your center to ask for the specifics.
The Bottom Line
Donating blood is a wonderful way to help others. You are offering to help to save lives while also choosing to focus on your own by getting wellness testing and getting a number of your vital signs, such as blood pressure, iron levels, and cholesterol levels, tested by giving blood.
Smoking cannabis does not preclude you from donating blood. Nevertheless, if you arrive at your appointment noticeably high, the health center has the right, and will most probably, send you home.
Hi, I’m Zack Finch and I work as a Budtender for a Health & Wellness center here, in sunny California. I have been using marijuana recreationally for around 6 years now, and have many a time enjoyed the benefit that weed has to offer.
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