19 Oct Long-Term Cannabis Use Linked to Poorer Sleep on Wearable Trackers, Even When Users Report Sleeping Well
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Thanh-Huyen T. Vu, MD, PhD
Research Associate Professor
Department of Preventive Medicine
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Cannabis is widely used and legal in many states. Many people believe that it helps them sleep better. However, few studies have tested whether cannabis use is associated with sleep—particularly sleep that is measured using devices rather than self-reported. Our study asked adults about their cannabis use multiple times over 35 years. And more recently, we measured sleep duration and quality using a wearable device similar to an Apple Watch or Fitbit and asked people to tell us about their sleep.
We found that adults who used cannabis regularly over a number of years had sleep that we would describe as lower quality—more frequent awakenings and with less time during their sleep period spent asleep. However, when asked, adults who used cannabis and those who didn’t reported similar sleep patterns—which wasn’t the case when we measured it.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: The main takeaway is that we shouldn’t assume cannabis improves sleep simply because people believe it does. Our findings suggest that cannabis-related sleep disturbances may go unnoticed if we rely solely on people’s own perceptions of how well they sleep.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: Because our study was not initially designed to study cannabis, we have limited information about the reasons why adults chose to use cannabis and the strains of cannabis they used. Future research should collect more detailed information about the strains of cannabis, what it’s combined with and the delivery mode—inhaled vs. edible—and study whether there are differences in sleep duration and quality that may vary by these factors.
Legalization of cannabis could also open the door to rigorously designed randomized trials that assign one group to use cannabis and measure sleep and another not to. However, those trials won’t be able to tell us whether there are differences with long-term cannabis use. Longitudinal observational studies such as ours can be useful.
MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add? Any disclosures?
Response: Our study is an observational study, and we can only describe associations and not determine cause and effect. Clinical trials are needed to make those claims or to make recommendations about using cannabis for health effects. An important point is that much of the evidence about the benefits of cannabis use isn’t generated by research studies of any type but based on feelings and self-report. More research is needed given the widespread and growing use of cannabis.
We have disclosed all funding sources in our article and have no industry affiliations to report. We hope this study contributes to a more evidence-based understanding of the relationship between cannabis use and sleep through observational research.
Citation: Vu TT, Knutson KL, Auer R, Jakob J, Lloyd-Jones DM, Carnethon MR. Recent and Cumulative Cannabis Use and Sleep in Middle-Aged Adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9(10):e2638303. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.38303
Information on the health effects of cannabis is available from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
For a broader overview of cannabis and health research, see this MedicalResearch.com overview of cannabis and sleep.
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Last Updated on October 19, 2026 by Marie Benz MD FAAD