Cannabis for Sleep

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of maintaining an overall high quality of health. For many of us, part of our holistic health involves consuming cannabis for many health benefits, including sleep.

When the COVID-19 virus hit, it clearly caused many disturbances. Whether this meant lack of sleep, decreased amount of sleep, or feeling tired after sleeping, the pandemic year of 2020 caused many of us issues with getting shut-eye. Neurologists have been calling pandemic-induced sleep problems ‘COVID-Somia’, and several studies have been done on the matter.

More than 50 million Americans suffer from some kind of sleep disorder, while 20 to 30 experience intermittent sleep problems yearly, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association. Dealing with sleep disorders can lead to a decline in cognitive function, a lack of focus, and general irritability.

What’s worse, continued sleep disorders can lead to serious health problems like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many of us had been turning to cannabis to help us sleep. Here are some of the reasons why science says this is the case.

Studies Show Cannabis Helps Us Fall Asleep Faster

Even the most inexperienced cannabis consumer, and even those who have never even tried it, will know that cannabis can help us feel relaxed and less stressed. Given this, it’s not news that cannabis can help us fall asleep faster. This is especially true for those suffering from conditions like chronic pain and PTSD, as these ailments can negatively impact the quality of sleep.

Keep in mind that inhaling cannabis will cause us to feel the effects sooner than if we consume food or beverages infused with the plant medicine. However, eating cannabis-infused products might help you stay asleep longer than vaping or smoking. Just be sure to take your edible an about an hour before bedtime.

Nighttime Cannabis Consumption Might Lead to Morning Grogginess

Some of us who have consumed cannabis at night might remember sometimes feeling a bit groggy, dehydrated, or lethargic the next morning. This feeling certainly isn’t close to the hangover we feel from alcohol. But overindulging or consuming low-grade cannabis might lead to this feeling. It’s always a good idea to drink plenty of water, take your vitamins, and avoid eating junk food when we get the munchies.

Each Consumer and Cultivar is Different

Common cannabis wisdom dictates that cultivars that are Indica-dominant are the ones that will help you feel more sleepy and Sativa will help you feel uplifted. There is truth in this, and we even compiled a list of some examples of these cultivars that you can read later in this chapter. But don’t pick an Indica for sleep just because someone else says it helps them.

First, the traditional classification of Indica and Sativa is outdated and needs an update. Not to mention, many other factors dictate how a cannabis variety will make us feel - including its terpene profile, as well as its cannabinoid content. This can be complex, and you might not even know that the proper term is cannabis cultivar, not cannabis strain, until this chapter!

Do cultivars with high CBD content help you sleep? Maybe you’ll be surprised that a particular cultivar with lower THC will help. As we’ve said many times before, cannabis affects each of us differently. As with so many other aspects of consuming cannabis, experimentation is key.

THC Can Impact Our REM Sleep

Another way that cannabis can affect our sleep is how much we remember our dreams and how vivid they are. The reason for this is that cannabis can impact our REM sleep, which stands for rapid eye movement. REM sleep is an important aspect of our overall health because of how it impacts our sleep quality.

REM sleep is when we tend to get the most restorative and deep quality of sleep, which is also when we have the most intense and memorable dreams. Cannabis clearly can help us fall asleep, but we might experience issues when it comes to staying asleep and getting restorative rest due to how THC affects the brain.

Studies have shown that consuming cannabis multiple times each day can reduce the amount of time we spend in REM sleep. This phenomenon seems to be most prevalent among those of us who consume cannabis multiple times each day. We can experience a “REM reset” if we take a tolerance break, which can be beneficial for regular consumers.

THC Has Sedative Effects

Some studies show THC has sedative effects on the majority of consumers and that cannabis shortens the amount of time it takes people to fall asleep by about 30 minutes. Studies dating back to the 1970s indicate that medical cannabis can help treat insomnia. It is clear that THC can help some people with sleep.

CBD Might Make You More Alert

It is less clear at this time as to whether CBD helps with sleep. There is evidence that indicates CBD, even in its hemp-derived form, helps with pain relief and reduces inflammation, which can help some people sleep. However, other studies indicate that CBD activates neurons that wake us up, and that the cannabinoid has properties that make us alert.

Other Natural Sleep Remedies Help In Conjunction

Cannabis can help many of us get the much-needed rest we need, but combining it with other natural remedies can be even more effective. Some of these remedies include:

• Regular mindfulness meditation.
• Reducing screen time.
• Relaxing content like Lo-Fi music.
• Nighttime caffeine-free teas with ingredients like chamomile and skullcap.
• Creating a sleep schedule.
• Natural sleep aids like melatonin or valerian.

All of the above will play a part in sleep quality. Implementing some of these in addition to cannabis can help us get the good night’s sleep we need consistently.

Best Cannabis for Sleep

As with anything else we consume, it’s important to not consume cannabis as a crutch and rely on the plant medicine for sleep every night. The same holds true as to whether melatonin is safe to take every single night. It’s best to fall asleep naturally if we can, instead of relying on a substance.

However, those of us with insomnia or other sleep issues know these things don’t always work. This is where cannabis can help. Here are some examples of cultivars that consumers agree helped with their sleep.

• Northern Lights
• GG4
• Grandaddy Purple
• White Widow
• 9 lb Hammer
• Blue Cheese
• Grape Ape
• God’s Gift
• Remedy

Naturally, these are just a few examples of some popular cultivars that may help with sleep. If you are looking for more, be sure to explore our cultivar pages and see what other types of cannabis may help you get your much-needed rest.

Cannabis and Sleep: Wrap Up

It’s a broken record at this point, but more unbiased studies need to be done before we fully understand how cannabis impacts our sleep. This is the case for many aspects of cannabis, as we’ve said before. It’s always important to note that every cannabis consumer is different.

It’s crucial to go low and slow when it comes to experimenting with what works for you. If you’re a medical patient, be sure to bring this up with your doctor before implementing cannabis into your regular sleep schedule. Cannabis and sleep is one of our longest chapters, and for good reason. Without the proper sleep, restoration, and rest we need, we would never be able to fully enjoy the wonderful world of cannabis.

What We Learned: Cannabis for Sleep

Helping with sleep is one reason many consumers seek cannabis. Here are a few key items we learned in this chapter:

• Studies dating back to the 1970s show that cannabis helps us fall asleep fast.
• THC has an impact on REM sleep. It’s currently unclear whether that impact is positive or negative and usually depends on the individual.
• CBD could make you more alert, rather than help with sleep.
• Other natural sleep remedies like Valerian and mindfulness meditation in conjunction with cannabis could improve your sleep.
• Over-consumption of low-quality cannabis at night could lead to grogginess in the morning.
• As always, each cultivar and individual consumer are different.

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