If you are among the 40 million of Americans suffering from some sort of sleep disorder, help may be on the way in the form of a marijuana inhaler. Much like an inhaler used for sufferers of asthma and other pulmonary ailments, a squirt of cannabis may all you need to combat insomnia.
According to UK newspaper the Daily Mail, the device allows the patient to nod off within 1o minutes after inhalation and wake up refreshed without negative side effects. The report says the device will be available in Israel and California by 2018.
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Related Story: Here’s The Science On Why Marijuana Makes You Sleepy
The product comes from iCAN, an Israeli company that hopes to get governmental approval in more states. “As an insomniac myself, I am proud to be involved in bringing a next generation cannabis product to the market. Doseable, repeatable cannabis is a reality,” said Saul Kaye, a co-founder of iCAN.
Over the past decade, research has focused more on the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Individuals with insomnia tend to use medical cannabis for sleep at a high rate. Up to 65 percent of former cannabis users identified poor sleep as a reason for relapsing. Use for sleep is particularly common in individuals with PTSD and pain.
Of the 40 million of Americans who have trouble sleeping, one fourth of them have a prescription for Ambien or some other pharmaceutical sleep medication and 4 percent of adults report that they have taken a sleeping pill or sedative in the previous month.
Some of the more common side effects for these pills include:
- Daytime drowsiness, dizziness, weakness, feeling “drugged” or light-headed
- Tired feeling, loss of coordination
- Stuffy nose, dry mouth, nose or throat irritation
- Nausea, constipation, diarrhea, upset stomach
- Headache, muscle pain
Arizona State University sleep researcher Shawn Youngstedt is not an advocate for pharmaceuticals as a sleep aid. He told CNN:
“Sleeping pills are extremely hazardous. They are as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Not to mention they cause infections, falling and dementia in the elderly, and they lose their effectiveness after a few weeks.”
Studies have shown that cannabis can improve the duration and quality of sleep. A 1973 study suggests that THC reduces the amount of time it takes those with insomnia to fall asleep. Another study found that those that regularly used THC fell asleep faster.
