Ganja and Sleep

While difficulties with obtaining robust samples and studies persist, researchers have reached some conclusions, some of them contested and tentative, regarding cannabis and sleep. Here are the most important ones:

Marijuana is 114 Times Safer than Alcohol and Cigarettes.

The risk of mortality that weed causes is extremely low. The findings were published in a 2015 issue of the journal Scientific Reports, which is a subsidiary of Nature.

Smoking Marijuana Poses Some Risks.

The American Cancer Society cautions that along with THC and other cannabinoids, smoked marijuana delivers “harmful substances to users and those close by, including many of the same substances found in tobacco smoke.” The American Lung Association notes that marijuana smokers “tend to inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than cigarette smokers, which leads to greater exposure per breath to tar.”

Edibles, tinctures, and oils do not pose those risks, but it’s worth keeping in mind that they can take longer to take effect — anywhere between 45 minutes to three hours. Ingestibles stay in the system longer than smoked marijuana, which activates and dissipates more quickly.

Marijuana May Combat Anxiety, but It Can Also Provoke It.

As we’ve established at the beginning of the article, many people report reaching for marijuana in order to calm anxiety and in order to fall asleep. Marijuana contains THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and cannabidiol (CBD).“The paradox of marijuana both inducing and relieving anxiety is reconciled by understanding that effects on anxiety levels are dose-dependent,” according to a scientific review of cannabis and anxiety.

The Harvard-based authors of the same publication, “Medical Marijuana and the Mind,” say that CBD appears to interact with the more high-producing THC to result in sedation and that it may have independently “anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, or antipsychotic effects, although the research is too preliminary to be applied clinically.”

While a high dose taken by the unprepared might result in anxiety or even psychosis (the extreme results of a high), it is “not yet known whether marijuana increases the risk of developing a persistent anxiety disorder.” While it is true that many people who smoke marijuana have anxiety, the authors of the Harvard statement say that this is likely due to selection bias — meaning that anxious individuals are more likely to seek out marijuana, rather than marijuana causing the anxiety.

The Power of Marijuana to Induce Sleep Has Been Confirmed by a Number of Studies.

The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs published a study in early 2019 that examined the use of cannabis to promote sleep and relieve pain.In the study, 74 percent of participants were using marijuana as a sleep aid while 65 percent were using it to relieve pain. Of those taking marijuana as a sleep aid, 84 percent found it very helpful and over 8 percent reported reducing or stopping taking over-the-counter or prescription sleep aids.

A review of clinical trial data of the cannabis-based medicines containing primarily THC, CBD, and a 1:1 combination of the two published in the journal Chemistry & Biodiversity noted “a mild activating effect of CBD, and slight residual sedation with TCH-predominant extracts.” Authors remarked that most of the 2000 subjects that took cannabis extracts in clinical trials demonstrated “marked improvement in subjective sleep parameters.”In a Canadian study of 104 HIV-positive adults, two thirds endorsed the use of marijuana for sleep, among other benefits.

Some studies, including the 2016 one from Boston University’s School of Public Health, appear to contradict these conclusions, noting that marijuana contributes to the lowering of sleep’s quality. But it may be that self-selection bias is part of the picture: people who smoke marijuana tend to do so because they are anxious.

“Study participants who didn’t smoke every day usually smoked in the evening,” said one of the lead researchers. “But once you’re smoking multiple times a day, there’s a greater chance that you’ll report disturbed sleep. Only by stopping marijuana completely, and waiting for some time without using at all, will a person be able to determine how marijuana was affecting, or not affecting, his or her sleep.”

A 2017 study from the Nature of Science and Sleep noted that heavy marijuana users (more than five times per week for three months) may not see sleep benefits from marijuana, showing shorter sleep duration, less slow wave sleep, and longer sleep onset than counterparts in the study who did not ingest marijuana.

Studies Indicate that Marijuana Can Combat the Ailments That Can Cause Insomnia.

Stress and depression are often comorbid with insomnia: they can either directly keep us up or they can coexist with sleep deprivation. Among several recent studies, the one that stands out, conducted by the neuroscientists at the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions, examined stress and depression with particular attention on endocannabinoids, the brain chemicals similar to the ones contained in marijuana.

“Using compounds derived from cannabis — marijuana — to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilize moods and ease depression,” said lead researcher Dr. Samir Haj-Dahmane. Another recent study noted that marijuana can curb responses to triggers following severe stress and trauma (PTSD), which commonly result in startled responses, insomnia, and nightmares. The traumatized rats treated with cannabis fared much better than the rats treated with the SSRI antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft).