What sleep disorders are
Sleep disorders cover a range of conditions in which sleep is persistently disrupted, insufficient, or of poor quality. The most common is insomnia disorder, defined as difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early, occurring at least three nights per week for three months or more, with daytime impairment. Other sleep disorders include sleep apnoea, restless legs syndrome, circadian rhythm disorders, and parasomnias.
Poor sleep is associated with reduced quality of life, impaired cognitive function, and increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Standard treatments for insomnia include cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and sedative-hypnotic medicines. Many people find existing treatments inadequate or poorly tolerated over time.
Cannabis research on Sleep disorders
These are anecdotal or advocacy publications and do not constitute clinical evidence. The search did not return any peer-reviewed journal articles.
The published medical literature contains a modest but growing body of human studies.
A double-blind randomised controlled trial of cannabinol (CBN) with and without cannabidiol (CBD), published in 2024, examined sleep quality in 294 adults with self-reported sleep disturbance. In this human clinical study, neither CBN alone nor CBN combined with CBD differed from placebo on sleep quality measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The researchers reported that CBN at the doses studied did not improve sleep.
A separate double-blind randomised controlled trial of non-psychoactive cannabinoid formulations for sleep improvement, published in 2024 with 73 participants, compared a CBD plus CBN combination, a CBD plus cannabichromene (CBC) combination, and placebo. In this human clinical study, neither cannabinoid formulation separated from placebo on sleep outcomes.
A pilot randomised controlled trial of oral cannabinoids on sleep and high-density EEG in insomnia, published in 2026 with 20 participants, found that THC reduced the time taken to fall asleep in a human clinical study but that neither THC nor CBD produced significant changes on the primary polysomnography endpoint. The trial also confirmed that THC suppresses REM sleep, a finding that has been replicated across multiple human laboratory studies.
A cross-sectional observational study of patients using THC-rich and CBD-rich cannabis oils, published in 2026, reported that people using these products described improvements in quality of life and self-reported sleep. This human observational study cannot distinguish between pharmacological effects and expectation or placebo effects.
Animal research and cell and laboratory studies indicate that CB1 receptor activation influences sleep-wake regulation. The endocannabinoid system modulates circadian rhythms, and animal studies show that THC alters sleep architecture in a dose-dependent and time-of-day-dependent fashion. This is biological plausibility evidence, not treatment evidence.
Compounds studied for Sleep disorders
THC has been studied in human randomised controlled trials and laboratory sleep studies. Human clinical studies have shown that THC reduces sleep onset latency (time to fall asleep) but suppresses REM sleep. The clinical meaning of THC-induced REM suppression, and its long-term effects on sleep quality, are not established.
CBN is often described anecdotally as sedating, but the only completed double-blind randomised controlled trial in humans did not find that CBN improved sleep compared with placebo. A further human randomised controlled trial of CBN for insomnia (the CUPID study) has a published protocol but results are not yet available.
CBD has been studied in human randomised controlled trials for sleep, both alone and in combination with other cannabinoids. The published trials to date have not demonstrated that CBD improves sleep relative to placebo in human clinical studies.
Myrcene is a terpene found in cannabis and hops that has been studied in animal research for its sedative effects at high doses. There are no human clinical trials of myrcene as an isolated compound for sleep disorders.
Linalool has demonstrated anxiolytic effects in animal behavioural studies, and some animal research suggests it may influence sleep. Human sleep trial evidence for isolated linalool does not exist.
Beta-caryophyllene is a CB2 receptor agonist. Animal research has explored CB2 activation and sleep regulation, but human clinical sleep trials of beta-caryophyllene are absent.
Limits of the evidence for Sleep disorders
The human randomised controlled trial evidence for cannabinoids and sleep is small, and the two completed trials of CBN-containing formulations did not show benefit over placebo. The largest trial (Bonn-Miller et al., 2024, n=294) found no CBN effect on its primary sleep outcome.
Most sleep studies of cannabinoids have been short, lasting days to weeks. Long-term effects on sleep architecture, tolerance, and withdrawal-related sleep disruption have not been adequately studied in clinical trials.
The observation that THC reduces sleep onset latency comes from small studies, some conducted in healthy volunteers rather than in people with diagnosed sleep disorders. Whether reduced sleep latency persists with regular use, and whether it translates to clinically meaningful improvements in daytime function, has not been established.
The evidence base contains no peer-reviewed clinical evidence.
Sources
1. Bonn-Miller MO, Feldner MT, Bynion TM, et al. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of the safety and effects of CBN with and without CBD on sleep quality. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. 2024;32(5):527-536. Study record
2. Saleska JL, Bryant C, Kolobaric A, et al. The safety and comparative effectiveness of non-psychoactive cannabinoid formulations for the improvement of sleep: a double-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Nutrition Association. 2024;43(1):1-11. Study record
3. Suraev A, McGregor IS, McCartney D, et al. Acute effects of oral cannabinoids on sleep and high-density EEG in insomnia: a pilot randomised controlled trial. Journal of Sleep Research. 2026;35(3):e70124. Study record
4. Figueiredo JFLM, de Almeida Soares C, de Oliveira DA, et al. Real-world quality of life and sleep outcomes in patients treated with THC- and CBD-rich cannabis oil: a cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2026;17:1862725. Study record
5. Lavender I, McCartney D, Marshall N, et al. Cannabinol (CBN; 30 and 300 mg) effects on sleep and next-day function in insomnia disorder (CUPID study): protocol for a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over, three-arm, proof-of-concept trial. BMJ Open. 2023;13(8):e071148. Study record
