Brief Answer:
For a maximum of 10 days.

Detailed Answer:
Hello Coltonhunter.It's Dr Ajeet this side.
Nicotine is the addictive chemical found in cigarettes and other tobacco products.Your body breaks down nicotine and turns it into cotinine.
Cotinine is the chemical metabolite that lab technicians look for when screening for nicotine use.
The length of time that a drug remains in your body depends on the drug’s half-life, which is the amount of time it takes for 50 percent of the substance to leave your system.
Cotinine has a half-life which averages 16-19 hours in the different body fluids (range 10 to 27 hours) while nicotine has a half-life of about two hours.
Cotinine can be detected in various test samples including urine, blood and saliva but the time it remains detectable in each body fluid varies.
Cotinine levels in urine begin to return to normal about seven to 10 days after you last smoked.Testing urine samples for cotinine is the most widely used method of detection.
But If you heavily and regularly smoke,it may take up to three weeks for the cotinine to clear your system.
Nicotine can appear in the bloodstream about an hour after inhalation and cotinine can be detected in your blood for up to 10 days after you quit.Although a blood test is an invasive procedure, measuring cotinine in blood is the most reliable way to detect nicotine use.It is also the preferred method for determining nicotine exposure among nonsmokers.
The time it takes to clear the chemical nicotine and its metabolites like cotinine from the body is multi factorial and depends on many factors including age, sex, diet, type of tobacco product used and history of nicotine use.
Regular smokers break down nicotine more slowly than nonsmokers because tobacco smoke may contain substances that slow down the metabolism of nicotine.Compared to nonsmokers or occasional smokers,it takes people with nicotine addiction longer to eliminate the chemical.
Some tobacco products introduce more nicotine into your system than others.For example cigarette smokers had higher levels of nicotine and cotinine in their system than hookah and bidi smokers.
Food affects nicotine metabolism too.Meals can decrease nicotine concentrations in tobacco users.
Similarly,the older you are, the longer it takes for nicotine and byproducts to leave your system.People 65 and older do not metabolize the chemical as quickly as younger people.
There is also variation in both the sexes.Half-life of nicotine and cotinine is shorter in women than in men, which suggests that it clears more quickly in women. Pregnancy also speeds up the elimination of nicotine from the body.
If you are addicted to nicotine, the drug may not clear from your system for many weeks.Generally nicotine will leave your blood within 1 to 3 days after you stop using tobacco and cotinine will be gone after 1 to 10 days.
Neither nicotine nor cotinine will be detectable in your urine after even a week of stopping tobacco products.
The best way to pass a nicotine test is to avoid nicotine for up to 10 days before the test as blood tests can still detect cotinine for 10 days.
Smoking has a number of health, social and financial consequences and it is never too late to quit if you are ready to commit to a nicotine-free lifestyle.
Happy living.
Regards.

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