New Study Says Vaping Raw Cannabis Flower Most Effective Method For Insomnia

New Study Says Vaping Raw Cannabis Flower Most Effective Method For Insomnia

Vaping Raw Marijuana Flower Most Effective Method For Insomnia New Study Shows from CannabisNet on Vimeo.

Insomnia is a common sleeping problem affecting around 1 in every 3 people. Statistics say that 95% of people who have insomnia resort to pharmaceutical sleep aids, many of which have harmful side effects.

Sleeping pills come in all shapes and sizes, and most of them act as a sedative. Not only are they addictive, but they can cause dizziness, headaches, general weakness, stomach pain, tingling in the extremities, and more undesirable side effects. Addressing insomnia is necessary for your health and wellbeing, because lack of sleep is a serious problem. Fatigue and constant drowsiness due to chronic insomnia can cause health problems as you age, including an increased risk for cardiovascular problems and stroke. It also puts you at risk when you drive or operate machinery.

However, thousands are already using cannabis to help with insomnia. But aside from edibles, smoked, vaped, or dabbed cannabis, a new study says that eating raw weed may be beneficial for insomnia.

The study, which was published in Medicines, an open access medical journal, found that the consumption of “raw, natural medical cannabis flower” was tied to “significant improvements” among patients with insomnia. To conduct the study, 409 people with a specific type of insomnia were asked to complete 1,056 sessions wherein medical cannabis was administered. The Releaf App educational software was used to track real-time observations of “self-perceived insomnia severity levels prior to and following consumption, experienced side effects, and product characteristics, including combustion method, cannabis subtypes, and/or major cannabinoid contents of cannabis consumed.” Releaf is a widely-used app that is designed to help MMJ patients record, track, and discover the kinds of cannabis that work for them as well as the dosage and consumption methods that are most effective for them.

The consumption method used by participants included vaping (49%), pipe (38%), and joint (13%). The mean levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the cannabis consumed by the patients was 20% while cannabidiol (CBD) was at 5.7%. When the THC levels exceeded 35% or CBD was greater than 30%, these were omitted from the observations.

They found that vaping and pipes delivered “greater symptom relief and more positive and context-specific side effects as compared to the use of joints, while vaporization was also associated with lower negative effects.”

“Our results showed that on average, Releaf App users experienced a statistically and clinically significant improvement (-4.5 points on a 0-10 point scale) in perceived insomnia levels,” says the study. It was also noted that higher CBD levels were associated with better symptom relief than THC levels, which makes sense since consuming high amounts of THC has been known to induce anxiety in some people, which CBD helps counter.

“Cannabinoid and terpene profiles vary across strains and we did find that the most frequently used cannabis strains for insomnia treatment were quite distinct in their chemotypic characteristics,” says the authors.

Although the authors acknowledge the limitations of the study, they concluded that consuming raw cannabis flower has been associated with significant improvements in insomnia. Individuals suffering from mild to severe forms of insomnia may want to look into vaping or smoking raw cannabis as opposed to other types of cannabis consumption methods, provided that they are of good respiratory health.

Other Options For Insomniacs

If vaping doesn’t appeal to you, the good news is that there are many other suitable forms of cannabis consumption methods that can help with insomnia. In fact, the consumption method you choose plays a role that is just as important as the strain, so it will require a little experimentation on your part. When it comes to cannabis strains, indica varieties have been scientifically and anecdotally proven to be the most effective type for treating insomnia due to its natural sedative properties that calm both the body and the mind.

For those who have no issues falling asleep but tend to have difficulties waking up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep, edibles may be a great choice. Edibles are known to help patients sleep deeper and longer, so you can worry less about disrupted sleep cycles. On the other hand, inhaling cannabis flower is known to immediately put you to bed. Tinctures are also another excellent consumption method for insomniacs.

Vaping Raw Marijuana Flower Most Effective Method For Insomnia New Study Shows from CannabisNet on Vimeo.