Leah Welborn
Sleep is one of the few things that we as humans are in universal agreement about. We love it. We need it. We literally can’t live without it. Ideally, we’d all be spending about a third of our lives enjoying blissful, healthy rest. But unfortunately, a good night’s sleep eludes a lot of us.
According to sleephealth.org, “More than 50 million Americans suffer from over 80 different sleep disorders and another 20 to 30 million suffer intermittent sleep problems each year.” And that fact begs the question…can cannabis help you sleep?
The short answer is yes. But making an educated decision about your health requires in-depth knowledge, so here are some considerations to help you choose the right solution for your needs.
First, it’s helpful to understand the difference between THC and CBD. Each plays a role in the efficacy of cannabis, as do terpenes. As we’ve discussed in prior blogs, the entourage effect is responsible for most of the benefits attributed to cannabis – simply put, “the whole of the plant is better than the sum of its parts.”
Because of the ongoing prohibition of cannabis at the federal level, scientific studies are still difficult to undertake. That fact, combined with each individual’s personal chemistry and circumstances, makes a bit of personal experimentation necessary in finding exactly the right product and dosage for you. The non-profit organization Project CBD advises:
“Cannabis therapeutics is personalized medicine. There is no single CBD:THC ratio or dosage that’s optimal for everyone. As little as 2.5 mg of CBD combined with a small amount of THC can have a therapeutic effect. If necessary, much higher doses of good quality CBD-rich formulations are safe and well tolerated…Cannabis is a safe and forgiving medicine. Figuring out how to make the most of its health-enhancing properties may involve some trial and error. No worries! At least cannabis isn’t harmful like so many FDA approved pharmaceuticals.”
If you’re considering cannabis as a sleep aid, a good rule of thumb is to “start low and go slow.” If you’re looking for a product you can inhale (vape), try Mary’s Distillate Pod with a 3:1 CBD:THC ratio. If you’d prefer a remedy you can ingest, choose a product with a 1:1 CBD to THC ratio like Stratos 1:1 CBD:THC Tablets, or NectarBee CBD Natural Tincture with a 1:10 THC to CBD ratio.
As always, The Green Solution is here to help you. When it comes to cannabis, you can trust our experience.