Khlong Hok, Thailand: Plant-derived cannabis preparations provide comparable benefits to lorazepam in patients with chronic insomnia, according to randomized clinical trial data published in the journal Sleep Medicine.
Thai investigators compared the safety and efficacy of a pair of plant-derived cannabis preparations to the benzodiazepine lorazepam in 60 adults diagnosed with chronic insomnia. Subjects were randomly assigned to consume either lorazepam, cannabis oil extracts, or an oral pill containing cannabinoids and other traditional herbal compounds. Participants consumed the products before bedtime for four weeks.
All three interventions significantly improved subjective sleep quality as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, researchers reported. However, cannabis preparations provided superior improvements in patients’ overall health-related quality of life.
“Our findings suggest that culturally rooted herbal remedies and regulated cannabis oil preparations may offer a holistic benefit profile by targeting both nocturnal symptoms and daytime well-being,” the study’s authors concluded. “Given the global push toward reducing benzodiazepine prescriptions due to safety concerns, the availability of validated herbal and cannabis-based alternatives is of high clinical value.”
Surveys find that consumers frequently report using cannabis as a sleep enhancer. In jurisdictions where cannabis products are legally available, sales of over-the-counter sleep medicines decline, as do prescription sales of opioids and benzodiazepines.
Full text of the study, “Integrative therapies for chronic insomnia: A randomized controlled trial of a traditional Thai herbal remedy and cannabis sativa oil,” appears in Sleep Medicine.