Are Sweet Dreams Made of These? Understanding the Relationship Between Sleep and Cannabis Use

Abstract

Introduction: There is widespread literature on the interaction between cannabis use and sleep, yet the mechanisms that underlie this relationship are not well understood. Several factors lead to inconsistencies in this relationship suggesting a nuanced interaction between cannabis and sleep. An important question that remains to be addressed is the temporal relationship between disrupted sleep and cannabis use. This literature review summarizes the existing literature on the association between disrupted sleep and cannabis toward the goal of addressing the question of the chronology of these reported effects. Materials and Methods: We conducted a review of the literature using PubMed to summarize current knowledge on the association between cannabis use and sleep in humans. Results: We identified 31 studies on the association of cannabis use and sleep. The findings from these studies were mixed. Cannabis was associated with a variety of impacts on sleep ranging from beneficial effects, such as reduced sleep-onset latency, to negative outcomes, such as reduced sleep duration and suppressed rapid eye movement oscillations. The chronology of the interaction of cannabis and sleep was unclear, although much of the current literature focus on factors that modulate how cannabis impairs sleep after initial use. Conclusion:There was sufficient evidence to suggest that cannabis use alters circadian rhythms, and hence, negatively impacts sleep. The current literature is largely from studies utilizing self-report measures of sleep; thus, objective measures of sleep are needed. In addition, although there were no empirical studies on the temporal relationship between cannabis use and sleep, the majority of the literature focused on characterizing sleep impairment after cannabis use.

The role of insufficient sleep and circadian misalignment in obesity

“…People who drink alcohol before bed often experience disruptions late in their sleep cycle as their liver enzymes metabolize the alcohol; this disruption can lead to excessive daytime sleepiness the following day. Finally, recreational and medical drugs, such as marijuana and opiates, have also been shown to disrupt sleep 49 , 50 .…”

The Effects of Cannabinoids on Sleep

“…There are a few older reviews of studies assessing the effects of cannabis products on sleep. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The objective of the current comprehensive review was to update previous reviews and describe the current literature evaluating the effects of cannabis products on normal sleep and sleep disorders, both during active use as well as during withdrawal. We aimed to discuss the effects of cannabis products on circadian sleep-wake rhythms as well as the evidence for their use in various sleep disorders.…”

Recent cannabis use and nightly sleep duration in adults: a population analysis of the NHANES from 2005 to 2018

“…The literature examining the effects of cannabis on sleep duration, architecture, or quality in people with no sleep disturbances at baseline demonstrate overall mixed results. [5][6][7][8] Early polysomnographic studies suggest that even a single cannabis exposure can cause reduced sleep-onset latency, increased total sleep time, and less disruptions once asleep. 21 Repeated use can quickly demonstrate habituation and likely opposite effects: increased sleep-onset latency, decreased total sleep time, and greater sleep disruption.…”

“…Despite popular use as sleeping aids, 4 there are mixed findings about the effects of cannabis and cannabinoids on various sleep metrics such as duration, architecture, and quality. 5 Both sleep-wake regulation and human endocannabinoid physiology are immensely complex, and their interaction is not yet fully understood. While animal and in vitro studies have begun to elucidate these pathways, clinical studies with humans have typically been small and heterogeneous in design, leading to mixed results overall.…”