Study Found 40 Percent of Daily Marijuana Users Had Sleeping Problems

Study out of the University of Michigan found nearly 40 percent of daily marijuana users reported sleeping problems.

Person smoking
Flickr

Person inhaling smoke.

Person smoking

Another study is here to cloud up your thoughts on marijuana’s effects on sleep. Studies in years past have concluded marijuana makes it harder for people to sleep but can also facilitate sleep. A snew tudy from the University of Michigan found marijuana will probably not help you sleep, but it’s not that simple.

Associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Deirdre Conroy toldThe Huffington Post the study isn’t the final word about the effects of marijuana on sleep. That being said, the study concluded: “Daily use of marijuana [was linked to]...sleep disturbances.” The study found 40 percent of people who reported using marijuana daily also said they had insomnia symptoms. Meanwhile, of the people who reported occasionally using marijuana, 10 percent had insomnia symptoms. Of the people who said they didn’t use at all, 20 percent had insomnia symptoms.

The study was conducted on 98 people. "Occasional" marijuana users were defined as people who smoked as little as once in the past month and as much as five days a week.

Researchers had some theories for why daily marijuana users could be having more sleeping problems. “Marijuana may have different effects on your sleep depending on if you have [symptoms of] depression or anxiety,” Conroy said. People with anxiety are prone to having sleeping problems and those people could be trying to treat that anxiety with marijuana. Therefore, the group of daily marijuana users who participated in the study are already likelier to have sleeping problems.

Another explanation could be marijuana causing people even more anxiety and creating mood disorders and therein sleeping problems. However, marijuana causing mood disorders is just a theory at the moment.

Latest in Life