How Long Do Benzodiazepines Stay In Your Hair?

Benzodiazepines are prescription sedatives that can be detected in hair samples for up to three months, or 90 days, after a person’s last use.

Common benzodiazepines include:

• Xanax (alprazolam)
• Valium (diazepam)
• Ativan (lorazepam)
• Klonopin (clonazepam)
• Halcion (triazolam)
• Restoril (temazepam)

Hair drug tests have the longest detection window of all drug tests. Benzodiazepines can also be detected in urine, saliva, sweat, and blood samples.

Learn more about how long benzos can be detected in the body

What To Know About Hair Drug Tests

Hair tests can be conducted in a laboratory setting or at home using a testing kit bought online. If you bought a kit online, you will need to send a hair sample to a lab for it to be analyzed.

To test a person’s hair for drug use, a sample of 90 to 120 hairs will need to be taken. Generally, hair samples for this type of drug test will need to be collected from the head.

Hair tests cannot accurately detect very recent drug use. Unlike some other tests, it will take 7 to 10 days for a person to receive a positive hair test result after taking a benzodiazepine drug.

What Factors Can Affect How Long Benzodiazepines Stay In Hair?

The amount of time benzodiazepines remain detectable in hair follicles is about the same for everyone: up to three months.

Factors that can affect this average detection window include:

• dose taken
• duration of use
• having dark hair

The use of styling products will not affect the detection time of benzodiazepines in hair. Chronic benzodiazepine use may result in detection times that extend beyond the standard 90-day range.

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Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff