Despite the fact that most states have legalized cannabis for medical use and the implications for health benefits are mounting, the federal government still has not legalized cannabis. It continues to enforce restrictive policies and regulations on research into the health benefits or harms of cannabis products that are available to consumers across the nation.
As a result, research on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids has been limited in the United States, leaving patients, healthcare professionals, and policy makers without the necessary proof they need to make sound decisions regarding the use of cannabis as a medicine. Because of this, some cannabis companies are even investing money into facilitating their own private studies to get a better understanding of what patients need.
Sensi Products, a California-based cannabis manufacturer, surveyed 246 anonymous respondents to gain more insight into sleep issues and the impact medicating with cannabis has on them. The results suggest cannabis infused edibles may be particularly helpful for the symptoms and side effects associated with insomnia.
The majority of respondents (73%) preferred medicating with cannabis in an edible form when dealing with sleep issues; and of those, a large majority (91%) said that edibles were effective for helping them get better sleep.
“Most studies only scratched the surface and we wanted a deeper understanding of what the consumer is going through and why they are looking to cannabis as a possible solution, which is an essential piece of the sleep puzzle.” — Lisa Tollner
“Over the past 5 years we’ve interviewed nearly two thousand consumers who struggle with insomnia and lack of sleep” explains Lisa Tollner, Co-Founder and CSMO at Sensi Products.
“This sleep study by Sensi Products produced some fascinating insights that we haven’t seen in past studies on cannabis and sleep. In particular, the high approval rating of cannabis edibles for sleep is an interesting result that should be followed up on. Future research should investigate whether cannabis edibles might provide an especially efficacious route to sleep improvements – as this study suggests” states Emily Earlenbaugh, PhD writer and cannabis educator.
Expanding on the work from previous sleep studies, Sensi Products’ survey-based study looked at a variety of sleep-related variables, e.g., sleep patterns, reasons for insomnia, different types of cannabis use, use of other medications, and lifestyle factors like exercise and napping.
In addition to highlighting the efficacy of edibles for sleep, the study found that the majority of respondents (84%) who had used both cannabis and pharmaceutical sleep aids said their sleep was better with cannabis and described improved results when using cannabis options, e.g., sleeping longer (74%), enhanced happiness (56%), emotional balance (53%), productivity (51%), focus (46%), creativity (35%), memory (30%), and motor skills (24%).
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) keeps assuring us that they are taking significant steps to expand cannabis research, but it has already been more than three years since it was supposed to start accepting applications for additional parties to study the plant and its possibilities.
“The Drug Enforcement Administration continues to support additional research into marijuana and its components, and we believe registering more growers will advance the scientific and medical research already being conducted,” Acting Administrator Dhillon said in a press release.
“(We are) making progress to register additional marijuana growers for federally authorized research, and will continue to work with other relevant federal agencies to expedite the necessary next steps.”
Source: mjcooking