{"id":20047,"date":"2025-10-19T16:38:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T15:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=20047"},"modified":"2026-01-11T18:03:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:03:54","slug":"when-it-comes-to-sleep-marijuana-may-be-doing-more-harm-than-suspected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/10\/when-it-comes-to-sleep-marijuana-may-be-doing-more-harm-than-suspected\/","title":{"rendered":"When It Comes to Sleep, Marijuana May be Doing More Harm Than Suspected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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17 October 2025 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sleep is essential for human survival; it affects an individual\u2019s physical and mental health. Although the amount of sleep required varies throughout a person\u2019s lifetime, the quality of it remains essential. Quality sleep restores the body, consolidates memories, supports emotional regulation, and plays a key role in maintaining the immune system. When sleep quality is compromised\u2014such as in cases of insomnia\u2014it can significantly disrupt daily life, prompting many to seek alternative remedies for relief.<\/span><\/p>\n

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One substance often misrepresented as a sleep aid is marijuana; however, research consistently shows that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) interferes with the very sleep processes it claims to improve. A recent randomized controlled trial examining the effects of a single dose of THC and cannabidiol (CBD), the two primary compounds in marijuana, on individuals with clinical insomnia raised serious concerns about using marijuana as a treatment for sleep problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

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THC and REM sleep<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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In this study, those who took a one-time dose of 10mg of THC and 20mg of CBD experienced significantly less total sleep time <\/strong>and spent less time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, <\/strong>the phase associated with dreaming, emotional processing and memory consolidation, supporting previous research that pointed to THC disrupting deep REM sleep. THC also disrupted restorative stages<\/strong>, meaning that individuals may fall asleep faster but may never get the kind of sleep the body truly needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Those who took this THC and CBD combination also took about an hour longer to reach REM sleep compared to placebo. Studies have shown that the suppression of REM sleep can have long term consequences. While in this study a single dose did not affect next-day function, researchers cautioned that regular use may lead to tolerance and eventual withdrawal symptoms that could lead to worse quality sleep over time. Withdrawal from marijuana can also cause more sleep issues that may lead to relapse, adding challenges for people struggling with substance use or mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n

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While CBD is often marketed as the \u201ccalming\u201d component of marijuana, in this formulation it may have intensified THC\u2019s effects due to unknown metabolizing processes of both substances together. As marijuana and CBD products become more widely available and socially accepted\u2014often under misleading claims\u2014more people may turn to them as \u201cnatural\u201d sleep remedies. However, as this study underscores, natural<\/em> does not necessarily mean safe<\/em> or effective<\/em>. Just because something is derived from a plant does not mean it is harmless or beneficial.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US<\/span><\/p>\n

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17 October 2025 Sleep is essential for human survival; it affects an individual\u2019s physical and mental health. Although the amount of sleep required varies throughout a person\u2019s lifetime, the quality of it remains essential. Quality sleep restores the body, consolidates memories, supports emotional regulation, and plays a key role in maintaining the immune system. When […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,68,64,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cannabis-marijuana","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-health","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20047"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20049,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20047\/revisions\/20049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}