The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and its partners at the University of Colorado Anschutz have made the first measurement of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the breath of individuals who have consumed edible cannabis.

This research supports public safety and law enforcement, as there is still no reliable evidence in place to determine when a person has consumed cannabis or whether they are intoxicated as a result of its use.
NIST researchers have observed increases and decreases in THC levels in the breath of participants several hours after consuming cannabis-infused gummies.
Cannabis use has increased in the U.S. and has exceeded alcohol as a daily recreational drug for Americans. Nearly 20% of cannabis consumers have admitted to driving after consuming it. However, unlike alcohol, there is no reliable evidence regarding cannabis consumption. Even blood tests cannot determine whether a person has consumed it. This means that law enforcement cannot verify a person’s recent usage, let alone the level of intoxication.
To complicate matters further, there are multiple ways to consume cannabis: smoking, vaping, ingesting, and dabbing (inhaling a concentrated form of cannabis extracts). Scientists know that the psychoactive component THC shows up in breath after smoking, but what happens with edible formats?
The answer is that after consuming these other forms of cannabis, THC is also present in breath. In a study published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology researchers at the NIST have taken the first samples of cannabinoids in breath after study participants ingested cannabis-infused edibles.
Making a breathalyzer for cannabis is more difficult than making one for alcohol. Alcohol is a relatively simple and highly volatile molecule: it easily travels through the lungs and evaporates when it comes into contact with air. However, THC is a more complicated molecule with very low volatility. Consumption is usually hundreds of times less than that of alcohol. It appears in very small concentrations in breath, making THC detection much more difficult. Regular cannabis users can have THC in their breath for at least eight hours and in their blood for weeks after they stop using it. This means that a single measure is insufficient to determine when a person last consumed it.
In the new study, NIST partners at the Anschutz Medical Campus of the University of Colorado observed 29 participants consuming a cannabis-infused gummy in the laboratory. The edibles contained between 5 and 100 milligrams of THC. The researchers first took a breath sample from the participants before they ingested the product. They then observed each participant for three hours and collected breath samples approximately every hour.
NIST researchers measured the concentration of THC and other cannabinoids in breath at these intervals. THC was detected in the majority of participants before they consumed the edible, even though they had been asked to abstain for eight hours prior to the study. This is not surprising. Our body processes cannabinoids slowly and takes weeks to eliminate them from our system compared to how quickly alcohol is processed.
This study shows that THC ingested in edible form can pass through the digestive system and be exhaled again by the lungs.
This research supports the idea that multiple breath samples over a period of time could be a way to use a breathalyzer to detect cannabis consumption, regardless of how it is ingested. However, devices will still require standards that ensure their accuracy and proper usage.
Researchers: Jennifer L. Berry, Ashley Brooks-Russell, Tara M. Lovestead, and Kavita M. Jeerage. The detection of cannabinoids in breath after ingestion of cannabis-infused edibles. Journal of Analytical Toxicology. Published online on 10 July 2025. DOI: 10.1093/jat/bkaf063
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