Cannabis & Sleep

Does Cannabis Help You Sleep? What the Research Actually Shows

If you use cannabis to fall asleep, you're in good company. In a 2024 survey of more than 4,000 Canadian adults, about 1 in 6 had used cannabis to help them sleep in the past year.[1]

It's especially common in midlife. In an Alberta survey of women aged 35 and over, most of them in perimenopause or menopause, poor sleep was the number one reason for using cannabis.[2] If that's you, night sweats and 3am waking may be part of the picture, and there are treatments with much stronger evidence. See Can't Sleep in Perimenopause? What Actually Helps.

So it’s a question many Canadian ask. Does cannabis actually work for sleep, and is there a catch?

What cannabis does in the body

Cannabis contains dozens of compounds called cannabinoids. The two you'll see on labels most are THC, which causes the "high" and tends to make people drowsy, and CBD, which isn't intoxicating. Some sleep products also include CBN. These compounds act on the endocannabinoid system, which helps regulate things like sleep, pain, mood and appetite.

Does it help you sleep?

Short answer: maybe a little, for some people, and the evidence is thinner than the marketing.

• The biggest review so far pooled 39 randomized trials with about 5,100 people. Most were people with chronic pain. Medical cannabis probably led to a small improvement in sleep quality compared with placebo. Dizziness was a common side effect, affecting close to 3 in 10 people in longer trials.[3]

• Trials in people with insomnia specifically are rare. One small trial gave 23 adults with chronic insomnia a THC-based oil (with small amounts of CBN and CBD) for two weeks. People reported falling asleep faster and sleeping longer, and their insomnia scores improved. But on the overnight sleep study, there was very little difference from placebo.[4]

• What happens to your sleep stages is less clear than older articles suggest. A 2025 review of sleep-lab studies found cannabis didn't consistently change how long people slept, how fast they fell asleep, or their sleep stages. The older finding that cannabis strongly suppresses dream (REM) sleep came mostly from small studies using high THC doses.[5]

That gap between feeling like you slept better and measurable changes in sleep shows up again and again. It doesn't mean the benefit people feel isn't real. It does mean we don't have good evidence that cannabis treats insomnia, especially long term. Most trials lasted weeks, not months.

The catch: what happens when you stop

This is the part that rarely makes it onto the label.

In people who use cannabis regularly, stopping often causes withdrawal. A large review found that close to half of regular or dependent users experienced cannabis withdrawal syndrome when they cut back or stopped.[6] Trouble sleeping is one of its core symptoms.

Sleep studies back this up. Stopping regular use consistently led to shorter sleep, taking longer to fall asleep, and a rebound in REM sleep.[5] That REM rebound is why people often notice vivid, strange dreams or nightmares after they quit.

This can create a loop. You use cannabis to sleep, you try to stop, your sleep gets worse, and it feels like proof you need it. The rebound usually settles with time, but it helps to know it's coming. If you use medical cannabis, plan any changes with the physician or nurse practitioner who authorized it.

Is poor sleep the reason you started using cannabis in the first place? That's the problem we can help with. Book a free 15-minute meet and greet and we'll look at what's keeping you awake.

A note on CBD products

CBD is often sold as the "gentle" sleep option. Two things to know:

• There's very little research on CBD alone for insomnia.

• What's in the bottle may not match the label. In one US study of CBD extracts sold online, nearly 70% were mislabeled, with either more or less CBD than stated.[7] In Canada, products from licensed legal retailers are regulated and tested, which is one reason to buy there if you use them.

If you choose to use cannabis

That's your decision. Canada's Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines suggest:[8]

• Avoid daily or near-daily use

• Choose lower-THC products

• Avoid smoking; other forms carry fewer lung risks

• Don't drive for at least 6 hours after use

• Avoid it entirely during pregnancy

We also recommend avoiding cannabis while breastfeeding, since THC can pass into breast milk.

Let your health care providers and pharmacist know you use it, since cannabis can interact with other medications and supplements. For questions about medical cannabis specifically, talk to your physician or nurse practitioner.

What works better for insomnia

If you've been having trouble sleeping at least three nights a week for three months, that's insomnia disorder. The first-line treatment is cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), which has much stronger evidence than any sleep aid, including cannabis. It works on the habits and patterns that keep insomnia going, and the benefits last after treatment ends.

Read more:

• Insomnia: What Causes It and What Actually Works

• Can't Sleep in Perimenopause? What Actually Helps

• Long-Term Effects of Cannabis on Memory and Cognition

Want help with your sleep?

If you're not sleeping well, we can help you figure out why and build a plan that fits your life, whether it's stress, insomnia habits, hormonal changes or something else.

Book a free 15-minute meet and greet →

We see patients in Toronto and virtually across Ontario.

This article is for general education only. We don't prescribe or authorize cannabis. For medical cannabis questions, speak with your physician or nurse practitioner.

References (click to expand) ▾

1. Morin CM, Vézina-Im LA, Chen SJ, Ivers H, Carney CE, Chaput JP, et al. Prevalence of insomnia and use of sleep aids among adults in Canada. Sleep Medicine. 2024;124:338-345.
2. Babyn K, Ross S, Makowsky M, Kiang T, Yuksel N. Cannabis use for menopause in women aged 35 and over: a cross-sectional survey on usage patterns and perceptions in Alberta, Canada. BMJ Open. 2023;13(6):e069197.
3. AminiLari M, Wang L, Neumark S, Adli T, Couban RJ, Giangregorio A, Carney CE, Busse JW. Medical cannabis and cannabinoids for impaired sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Sleep. 2022;45(2):zsab234.
4. Walsh JH, Maddison KJ, Rankin T, et al. Treating insomnia symptoms with medicinal cannabis: a randomized, crossover trial of the efficacy of a cannabinoid medicine compared with placebo. Sleep. 2021;44(11):zsab149.
5. Velzeboer R, Malas A, Wei S, Berger R, Parmar V, Lai WWK. Cannabis and sleep architecture: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2025;84:102164.
6. Bahji A, Stephenson C, Tyo R, Hawken ER, Seitz DP. Prevalence of cannabis withdrawal symptoms among people with regular or dependent use of cannabinoids: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open. 2020;3(4):e202370.
7. Bonn-Miller MO, Loflin MJE, Thomas BF, et al. Labeling accuracy of cannabidiol extracts sold online. JAMA. 2017;318(17):1708-1709.
8. Fischer B, Russell C, Sabioni P, et al. Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines: a comprehensive update of evidence and recommendations. American Journal of Public Health. 2017;107(8):e1-e12.