Nearly one in four young adults has used cannabis and/or alcohol to fall asleep, according to a research letter published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics.While both alcohol and cannabis can help initiate sleep, regular use of these substances as sleep aids can be problematic, noted Megan E. Patrick, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Michigan. “Increasing tolerance can lead to greater use to produce consistent sleep outcomes, potentially contributing to [alcohol or cannabis] use disorder and sleep problems.”
Patrick and colleagues examined responses from 1,473 adults ages 19 to 30 who took part in the 2022-2023 Monitoring the Future Panel Study. Among all respondents, 22.4% had used cannabis and/or alcohol in the past year to help sleep—with cannabis being the more popular option: 41.4% of young adults who reported using cannabis in past year had used it for sleep, compared with just 8.6% of young adults who reported alcohol use.
In examining demographic and use variables, the researchers found that:
- Women were twice as likely as men to use cannabis for sleep.
- Black adults were three times as likely as White adults to use alcohol to sleep.
- Adults who used either substance daily or near daily were more than three times as likely as nondaily users to use that substance for sleep.
“Raising clinicians’ awareness about the common intersection of substance use and sleep problems among young adults is important for screening and developing and offering clinical interventions for these critical health risk behaviors,” the researchers concluded.
For related information, see the Psychiatric News article “Daily Cannabis Use Soars, Surpasses Daily Drinking.”
(Image: Getty Images/iStock/miniseries)
