If you need to figure out how to pass a drug test soon, you might be frantically searching for easy at-home fixes. Unfortunately, you can get some really bad advice from strangers on the Internet. Most popular methods for DIY drug detox aren’t all that effective, and some of them are outright dangerous. They mainly pre-date more sophisticated modern drug tests, especially if you’re getting your hair or blood tested instead of your urine.

Drug tests can put your livelihood on the line, and difficult situations can motivate you to make some ill-advised decisions—especially if that test is coming up too quickly for you to detox naturally. You don’t always have 30 to 60 days to flush cannabis out of your system. If you’re a medical patient, abstaining might not always be an option.

Fortunately, test-passing technology has evolved with the tests themselves. Companies like PassYourTest.com have proven solutions for hair, urine, and blood tests developed by actual scientists. You can’t say the same about an old trick you heard about from your friend’s cousin’s girlfriend’s dad who might have used it to beat a test in the 1980s.

Here’s a rundown of popular at-home remedies and their risks. We weren’t able to find compelling evidence that any of these methods will work to pass a drug test. If passing really matters to you, do you want to take that chance?

Goldenseal herb

Goldenseal is a popular method for passing a drug test, but there’s little evidence to support its efficacy, it takes a little while to kick in, and it can come with side effects. Besides, it’s expensive—and you never know how much goldenseal you’re actually going to get in a standard supplement, especially since it’s frequently swapped out for other herbs.

Apple cider vinegar

One of the theories here is that apple cider vinegar, often used diluted as a health tonic by natural wellness aficionados, improves your metabolism, which moves THC through your system faster. Others think that consuming acidic beverages like vinegar can flush your system more quickly.

But the truth is that we don’t even know if it boosts your metabolism at all, and it certainly won’t help you get anything out of your system in time for a test. Some have used apple cider vinegar to try to pass hair tests, but typically in conjunction with other methods—it certainly won’t work on its own. A risky endeavor if you need to be confident you’ll pass your test.

Cranberry juice

It’s possible that cranberry juice affects your bladder and urine, but that doesn’t mean it’ll clear your system of THC, which is stored in fat cells—and it certainly won’t do it quickly. Although this might be a tempting option to try as it’s cheap & easy to grab from the store, if you care about passing your test, it’s highly unlikely to do the trick.

Baking soda

Baking soda seems harmless—but when taken in high doses, it can send you to the hospital with anything from an electrolyte imbalance to a hole in your stomach. Putting it in your hair is less dangerous, but no more effective.

Niacin

Like baking soda, niacin can be dangerous when taken aggressively to pass a drug test, with side effects ranging from a nasty rash to liver failure. On top of that, it won’t reliably help you with a drug test. Unreliable and dangerous is the opposite of what you’re looking for if you want to pass your test safely and successfully.

Certo

Using Certo, or pectin, to pass a drug test is not only unpleasant—like most of these home remedies, there’s no actual proof that it works. If your test matters to you, why take that chance?

Bleach

This one shouldn’t need much explanation for why it’s a bad idea. Drinking bleach can literally kill you. Even if you add the bleach to your urine after it leaves your body, it very clearly has bleach in it. The best-case scenario here is that you have to take the test again. The worst-case scenario is that you get caught red-handed trying to cheat on your drug test. There’s not a lot of plausible deniability with bleach.

Pickle juice

Like apple cider vinegar, pickle juice is super acidic—and it sure feels like it’s cleaning something out. Unfortunately, there’s little evidence to support that it can help you pass a drug test.

Diluted pee

Whether you’re drinking a ton of water or mixing it into your pee after it leaves your body, keep in mind that drug testers do verify that the sample they get is actually urine. While this method can dilute markers of drug use, it can also dilute the ordinary chemical markers of clean pee. 

Source: Leafly