About 16 percent of Americans aged 21 and older say they use cannabis as a sleep aid, according to a new industry-backed survey. That makes marijuana more popular for sleep than prescription sleep aids (12 percent) or alcohol (11 percent), but still not quite as common as using supplements (26 percent) or over-the-counter sleep aids (19 percent).
Overall, nearly 8 in 10 U.S. adults (79 percent) said something keeps them up at night, according to the new poll, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the cannabis company Green Thumb Industries and its “incredibles” line of edibles. Fifty-eight percent, meanwhile, reported consuming at least one substance to help them sleep.
The survey included both “cannabis” and “CBD-only or CBD + melatonin products” as possible selections for participants, who could pick multiple responses. Sixteen percent said they inhale or ingest cannabis—which could refer either to marijuana or hemp products—while 10 percent said they used CBD either alone or with melatonin.
Men were more likely than women to say they used cannabis (18 percent versus 15 percent, respectively) or CBD products (11 percent versus 8 percent) for sleep. Among women, people between ages 21 and 34 were most likely to use cannabis as a sleep aid, with older age groups considerably less likely. Among men, by contrast, the 35-to-44 age group was most likely to report using cannabis for sleep.
Parents were also more likely than non-parents to use cannabis for sleep. Twenty percent of people with children in their household generally said they used marijuana for sleep compared to 14 percent of people without children. People who were parents of children under 18 also reported higher cannabis use rates for sleep (21 percent) compared to people who weren’t raising minor children.
