Marijuana use is associated with impaired sleep quality

This is consistent with other studies showing harmful effects of marijuana use on adolescent brains, which are still developing.

http://www.aasmnet.org/articles.aspx?id=4779

American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Sunday, June 1, 2014

CONTACT: Lynn Celmer

DARIEN, IL – A new study suggests that marijuana use is associated with impaired sleep quality.

Results show that any history of cannabis use was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting difficulty falling asleep, struggling to maintain sleep, experiencing non-restorative sleep, and feeling daytime sleepiness. The strongest association was found in adults who started marijuana use before age 15; they were about twice as likely to have severe problems falling asleep (odds ratio = 2.28), experiencing non-restorative sleep (OR = 2.25) and feeling overly sleepy during the day (OR = 1.99). Results were adjusted for potential confounders including age, sex, race/ethnicity and education.

“Current and past marijuana users are more likely to experience sleep problems,” said lead author Jilesh Chheda, research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, working with Dr. Michael Grandner, the senior author on the study. “The most surprising finding was that there was a strong relationship with age of first use, no matter how often people were currently using marijuana. People who started using early were more likely to have sleep problems as an adult.”

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