If you regularly suffer from tension, nerves, anxiety or nervous worrying and you still want to have a good night’s sleep, then cannabis is the solution. Not the well-known “nightcap” (alcohol) and not teetotal either, but weed! And of course we did not come up with that ourselves, it is the clear outcome of a study among people who themselves suffer from the aforementioned conditions.
What is better for a good night’s sleep: nothing, alcohol or weed?
People with anxiety experience better sleep quality on days when they use marijuana compared to days when they use alcohol or nothing at all, according to a new federally funded study.
For this studypublished in the magazine Drug and Alcohol Reviewresearchers from the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and University of Haifa (Israel) analyzed the subjective sleep quality of 347 people who reported using cannabis to treat anxiety.
They wanted to understand the different ways in which sleep was affected by using marijuana, alcohol, neither, or both on a given day. Given the ongoing federal cannabis prohibition in the US, it is notable that the study was financially supported by a federal government agency: National Institutes of Health.
Hundreds of people keep sleep diaries for months
Study participants were required to complete a survey daily for 30 days, in which they shared their drug use and their subjective sleep experience the night before. Researchers compared the results of days without use, days with cannabis only, days with alcohol only and days with joint use.
“Compared to non-use, participants reported better sleep after cannabis use alone and after concurrent use, but not after alcohol use alone,” the authors write.
The study also found a link between the frequency of marijuana and alcohol use and sleep outcomes. People who used the substances more frequently reported better sleep quality on days when they used cannabis alone compared to less frequent cannabis and alcohol users.
‘More evidence for sleep-enhancing properties of cannabis’
According to the authors, their study confirms previously reported experimental findings among individuals without sleep and anxiety problems that cannabis is generally associated with higher subjective sleep quality.
“The results build on other research suggesting that more frequent use of alcohol and cannabis may moderate the daily associations of cannabis use and sleep, possibly by pharmacokinetics (the processes that a substance administered to the body goes through, ed.) and cross-sensitization.”
The authors say their hypothesis about the impact of cannabis consumption alone on sleep has been “confirmed” as both days of cannabis use alone and days of joint use were linked to higher perceived sleep quality compared to no use.
“Sleep quality was clearly better after cannabis-only days compared to joint-use days. These findings add to the emerging evidence of cannabis’ sleep-enhancing properties.”
Influence of tolerance
Although alcohol has also been found to help people to fall asleepthe study confirms previous findings that it is the overall sleep quality does not improve, especially compared to cannabis.
Interestingly, the study also indicates the sleep-inducing effects of cannabis alone not weaken over time in people who used cannabis and alcohol more often. This suggests that tolerance does not affect sleep quality.
In fact, the results suggest an opposite pattern. “Better sleep quality after days of cannabis use (compared to days without use) in frequent cannabis users,” the study said.
“This could be due to the higher doses that frequent users take, possibly linked to better sleep. However, understanding different cannabis combinations and their sleep effects remains limited and requires further research.”
More research is needed, also into combining cannabis and alcohol
“There is an urgent need for experimental studies that investigate the effects of cannabis and alcohol on sleep,” the Americans and Israelis conclude. “Our study suggests that cannabis may have positive effects on subjective sleep quality in individuals who plan to use cannabis to cope with anxiety.”
“Daily alcohol use may have less impact on sleep in this population when used without cannabis. And when used with cannabis, alcohol can reduce the positive effect of cannabis on sleep,” the study concludes.
ALSO READ ON CNNBS:
[fotografie: Shutterstock]
2023-11-27 12:37:00
#People #anxiety #sleep #weed #alcohol #CNNBS.nl
