Boulder, CO: Patients with moderate anxiety report experiencing increased sleep quality following their use of cannabis, according to data published in the journal Behavioral Sleep Medicine.
Researchers with the University of Colorado at Boulder assessed the relationship between cannabis use and sleep quality in a cohort of 348 adults with symptoms of generalized anxiety. Study subjects were assigned to consume either cannabis flower or edibles that were either THC dominant, CBD dominant, or contained equal quantities of both cannabinoids. Participants completed daily online surveys for 30 days.
Subjects said that they slept better on those days when they consumed cannabis as compared to days when they did not.
The study’s authors concluded: “We report on 30 days of daily cannabis use and sleep quality data among a community sample with mild-to-moderate anxiety. Our results suggest that cannabis use on a particular day is associated with better perceived sleep quality during the night and that these associations are stronger among those with higher negative affective symptoms and those using CBD dominant edible forms of cannabis.”
The study’s conclusions are consistent with those of a recently published observational trial from the United Kingdom which found that patients with generalized anxiety disorder exhibit sustained symptom relief following their use of cannabis products.
Full text of the study, “Daily associations with cannabis use and sleep quality in anxious cannabis users,” appears in Behavioral Sleep Medicine. Additional information on cannabis and sleep quality is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis & Cannabinoids.