The states tend to have qualifying conditions lists for medical cannabis consumption. Common conditions include things like chronic pain and PTSD. Insomnia is not on most state lists, if any at all. And yet people with sleeping problems have been known to use cannabis medicinally.
It turns out that cannabis is a double-edged sword for people with sleep problems. On the one hand, it can help a person fall asleep faster. On the other hand, using cannabis as a sleep aid could result in more restless sleep later in the night. So a person falls asleep faster, but does he stay asleep?
Why Falling Asleep Is Easier
Using cannabis to fall asleep makes a lot of sense. When THC interacts with the brain, it has a calming and relaxing effect. Brain arousal is also reduced. The combination of the two effects could make a person more drowsy. After that, sleep comes more easily.
It is also worth noting that more potent strains of marijuana could be even more effective at putting people to sleep because they contain more THC. And of course, smoking or vaping THC gets the chemical to the brain more quickly than ingesting it via a gummy or a piece of candy.
Cannabis and PTSD
The ability of cannabis to help a person fall asleep more quickly could be one of the reasons it seems to help PTSD patients. For the record, Utah-based Beehive Farmacy, a medical cannabis pharmacy with locations in Salt Lake City and Brigham City, says PTSD is among the top three conditions for which medical cannabis is utilized in the state.
Beehive Farmacy says that some of its PTSD patients report that medical cannabis helps them sleep when they would otherwise be kept awake by symptoms of their condition. If that’s true, better sleep would likely alleviate such symptoms. A PTSD patient who sleeps better should have less anxiety, fewer flashbacks, etc.
Such thinking lines up with what I read on the University of Michigan Health website. The site explicitly states that “marijuana may be more effective for people who are having trouble sleeping because of chronic pain, restless legs, PTSD or MS.”
Two Potential Drawbacks
Of course, there are potential drawbacks with every medication. Medical cannabis, while it may help people fall asleep more quickly, has a veritable ‘kickback’ effect. This is to say that once the effects of the THC wear off, the brain finds itself suddenly invigorated once again. The brain might want to wake up while the person is still trying to sleep.
The result of conflict between brain and body is restless sleep. It is a situation in which the person cannot continue in the REM state for the last several hours. Those last few hours are spent tossing and turning – with some waking moments thrown in.
The other potential drawback is the same drawback that applies to other artificial means of inducing sleep: dependence. A person who consistently uses cannabis to fall asleep might ultimately find that he cannot sleep any other way.
Still a Lot We Don’t Know
We are learning more about cannabis and how it impacts sleep. Some of it is positive; some of it is not. Furthermore, there is still a lot we don’t know about how cannabis and THC interact with the brain for sleep.
In the meantime, note that insomnia is generally not a qualifying condition for medical cannabis. If you are using medical cannabis for another condition and it helps you sleep, consider that a bonus. But do not rely on cannabis as a sleep aid.