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About 14% of U.S. adults said they used marijuana edibles as of 2022, and research suggests many of them do so in search of better sleep. One small 2021 study of cannabis users found that more than three-quarters of them thought they slept better thanks to the drug.
But despite the popularity of using edibles for sleep, the data on how well they help people drift off are surprisingly mixed. Using edibles is “very helpful for some people,” says Deirdre Conroy, clinical director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Michigan Medicine. But “for some people, it doesn’t help at all, and for others it works temporarily and then stops working.”
Indeed, studies suggest some people—including those with sleep disorders, chronic conditions, and certain mental-health issues—get better rest when they use cannabis, perhaps because it helps quiet symptoms associated with those diagnoses. But other studies have found that marijuana helps people fall asleep faster but may impair sleep quality, potentially because it throws off regular sleep cycles. Cannabis users are also more likely than non-users to get either more or less sleep than recommended, research shows. And heavy and habitual users seem prone to insomnia, and may struggle to sleep if they stop using the drug.
Studies looking specifically at edibles have yielded similarly mixed results. In the 2021 study in which most cannabis users said it helped their sleep, researchers found that edibles, specifically, were linked to shorter sleep duration and poorer overall sleep. A 2022 study also found that teenagers who used edibles were more likely to get inadequate sleep than peers who smoked marijuana, suggesting the way the drug is ingested may matter.
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