Clinical Trial Finds Nighttime Use of Cannabinol Reduces Sleep Disturbances
Getting proper sleep is vital to human health. When someone doesn’t get proper sleep, either due to not being able to initially fall asleep, or because they cannot remain asleep, it can have a significantly negative effect on a person’s mental and physical health.
Researchers estimate that as many as 1 out of every 3 adults suffer from insomnia worldwide. The condition can lead to heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and/or depression.
Researchers in Canada recently conducted a clinical trial in which they administered cannabinol (CBN) to people experiencing frequent sleep disturbances and the results were favorable. Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:
Smith’s Falls, Canada: The oral consumption of the phytocannabinoid cannabinol (CBN) results in fewer sleep disturbances, according to placebo-controlled trial data published in the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology.
Investigators assessed the use of CBN versus placebo in a cohort of 321 participants who self-rated their sleep quality as either “poor” or “very poor.” Subjects consumed either 20 mgs of CBN, a combined dosage of CBN and CBD, or placebo for seven days. Participants consumed cannabinoids in the form of gummies 90-minutes prior to bedtime.
The study’s authors reported, “Individuals receiving 20 mg CBN demonstrated reduced nighttime awakenings and overall sleep disturbance relative to placebo.” The combined use of CBD with CBN did not positively augment CBN treatment effects. Subjects reported only mild side-effects, including headache.
“The present study provides evidence to support the use of 20 mg CBN alone for the improvement of some sleep difficulties, including nighttime awakenings and overall sleep disturbance,” authors concluded. “[F]uture studies should continue to examine this potential side effects of CBN and compare it to the side effects of other pharmacological interventions for sleep.”
Prior placebo-controlled trials have reported that the use of cannabis extracts containing THC, CBD, and CBN is safe and effective for patients with chronic insomnia. Separate data published in 2018 also reported that the inhalation of herbal cannabis prior to bedtime is associated with “clinically significant improvements” in patients with insomnia.
Full text of the study, “A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of the safety and effects of CBN with and without CBD on sleep quality,” appears in Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. Additional information on cannabis and insomnia is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids.