It is general knowledge that all blood donations have the capacity to save plenty of lives. But have you ever wondered – can you donate plasma if you smoke weed?
The quickest answer to your main question happens to be YES!
Smoking marijuana has nothing to do with disqualifying you from actually donating blood. However, most clinics are very likely to turn donors away if they appear to be visibly stoned during the concerned appointment.
So, let’s talk about donating plasma as a stoner – keep reading to find out all that you need to know!
Donating Blood: Facts That You Must Keep In Mind!
Before asking, ‘can you donate blood if you smoke weed?’ or even ‘can you donate plasma if you smoke weed?’ – let’s talk about donating blood in general!
Did you know that one resident from the U.S. requires blood every two seconds? Moreover, it is estimated that about 4.5 million U.S. residents need at least one blood transfusion yearly. In fact, donating blood can be considered a vital deed which can actually save multiple lives. It takes only around ten to twelve minutes – plus it’s so easy.
Health experts even recommend blood donations since these are considered to be healthy for your body. While your body replenishes the blood lost, which in turn boosts your cardiovascular health, reducing the risks of both cancer and obesity. It’s just the same for blood plasma donation.
Even blood banks require plasma donations. These are vital for treating severe bleeding and trauma.
Read more: Sobering Up From Weed: How To Get Unhigh?
Plasma Donations: Uses
Like we just said, before we can discuss your ‘can you give blood if you smoked weed’ query, let’s check out the medical uses for plasma donations.
Plasma contains specific elements like chemicals and antibodies, which helps in blood clotting – these elements are used for treating certain ailments like trauma and burns. There are other uses for these donations, such as,
- Transplant surgery,
- Cancer,
- Hemophilia, and
- Developing Treatments.
Plasma Donations: Guidelines
While your primary concern is, ‘can you smoke weed and donate plasma?’ it’s better to check out the basic guidelines involving plasma donations. First, of course, you have to be a healthy person generally and at least 17 years of age. However, there are several states in the United States where 16-year-olds can donate plasma as long as they have some legal guardian’s consent.
At the same time, if you are donating, you have to be 110 pounds, at the very least.
General Disqualifers:
In the United States, the possible disqualifiers include,
- Using injection drugs that are illegal.
- Using injection drugs, unprescribed by your doctor, like steroids.
- Having an acute infection or feeling sick before or on the day of your appointment.
- Being pregnant or giving birth in the past 6 weeks.
- Getting pierced or a tattoo in the past year.
- Having HIV or hepatitis B or C.
- Having had lymphoma, leukemia, or any other blood cancer.
- Having had the Ebola virus.
- Inheriting a blood clotting disorder.
- Being a male, and having sexual contact with multiple men.
Answering, Can You Donate Plasma If You Smoke Weed: Smoking Marijuana And Donating Plasma!
As we mentioned in the beginning, there’s only one answer to your ‘can you donate plasma if you smoke weed?’ query – yes, you can! But your ‘can you donate blood if you smoke marijuana’ query gets a little deeper than that. So without wasting any time, let’s find out more about the same.
Read more: How Long Does Weed Stay In The System Of An Athlete?
Precautions For Marijuana Consumers Before You Can Donate Plasma:
So, yes, you can donate plasma even though you consume marijuana, provided you abide by the precautions mentioned below.
- Avoid consuming marijuana in any form for at least an entire day before you actually donate plasma. In this way, there won’t be any amounts of active THC right inside your plasma.
- Avoid ingesting cannabis edibles since edibles take relatively longer to leave your system. So the chances of the THC existing within your system will be much longer than you expected.
- If you happen to be intoxicated or even high when you are donating plasma, it is easy to understand that you are suffering from hypotension or even low levels of blood pressure. These conditions can definitely prevent you from donating plasma.
Occasional Versus Regular Marijuana Users:
So, we have provided plenty of information that pertains to marijuana consumers everywhere, but is all of it applicable to occasional consumers? Here’s the thing, everyone – it doesn’t matter whether you are a regular or an occasional marijuana consumer. The guidelines we have mentioned above are applicable to all users of weed, irrespective of their frequencies.
This means that all marijuana users, both regular and occasional users, can donate plasma as long as they meet the guidelines we have mentioned above, that is, all the qualifications for plasma and blood donation.
Yes, we agree that THC takes relatively longer to start breaking down and subsequently existing in the system of regular users. But that doesn’t mean any recipient will even feel the effects of the weed-infused blood. This obviously makes the THC levels in your body completely irrelevant in the context of plasma donation.
Read more: Stoned And Bored? Best Stoner Cartoons To Watch When You Are High
Forms Of Marijuana Not Allowed:
So, finally, you have an answer to the ‘can you donate blood if you smoke medical weed’ query. Yes, it doesn’t matter whether you are a regular or occasional marijuana user. Yes, it doesn’t matter what weed you are consuming. But what if we tell you there is a type of marijuana you can’t consume if you have plans of donating plasma?
So, if you have ingested or smoked any synthetic form of marijuana, you won’t be able to donate plasma. In case you didn’t know, synthetic marijuana is also called Spice or K2 – it’s a chemical that has been made by humans and comes with a very similar makeup to your usual marijuana plant. K2 is a psychoactive, unregulated substance that is often classified under NPS or new psychoactive substances.
Another synthetic marijuana by-product is Marinol – this one’s pretty common and is even approved by the FDA. If you end up taking Marinol to treat some medical condition, you will not be eligible for plasma donation. Medical conditions, in this case, include loss of your appetite due to HIV infections or nausea due to chemotherapy.
And It’s A Wrap!
So now you know the answer to your ‘can you donate plasma if you smoke weed’ query! What next? Are you planning to donate plasma sometime soon – just follow the general guidelines for plasma donation and if you are a marijuana consumer, then simply adhere to the precautions we java mentioned above – you will be good to go!
Tell us what do you think. And while doing so, don’t forget to share your past experiences related to the same in the comments below.
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