What is a Drug’s Half-Life?
One term that is frequently encountered when dealing with abuse of prescriptions or illegal drugs is “half-life.” It is also sometimes called an “elimination half-life.” As the name suggests, a drug’s half-life is how long it takes for the drug’s concentration to drop 50%.
Each drug has a different half-life. This is determined by the drug itself, but also factors impacting how the drug is metabolized in an individual’s body like weight, age, physical health, and sex.
The drug’s half-life determines how long the substance will be in someone’s body and doesn’t directly relate to the onset of euphoric effects. Effects may be felt immediately or within a few minutes, but the half-life of the drug can last hours or days. The drug’s half-life is the same regardless of route of administration (orally versus injection).
The half-life of illegal drugs includes:
- Heroin: Between 2 and 6 minutes.
- Cocaine: One hour.
- Marijuana/THC: Between 4 and 6 days.
- Methamphetamine: About 11 hours.
Opioid painkillers:
- Oxycodone: 3 to 5 hours.
- Morphine: 1 to 7 hours.
- Fentanyl: 3 to 12 hours.
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