For many of us regular stoners, cannabis is the ultimate sleep aid and bedtime routine enhancer. If you’re anything like yours truly, smoking some weed before bed, taking cannabis oils or dropping a tasty edible before brushing your teeth can help you to get fast, consistent and dream-filled rest. In fact, many of us have become so accustomed to sleeping stoned that we might find it very tough to fall asleep or stay asleep without the assistance of some nighttime ganja. Do you struggle to fall asleep for over an hour? Or are you the type that needs assistance staying asleep throughout those long nights? Maybe you can sleep okay but you never experience dreams? Perhaps your sleeping habits are solid, yet you always feel unrested in the morning no matter how many hours of shuteye you got? There are many reasons to rely on cannabis for sleep aid, but many people wonder: is it safe to go to sleep while high?! The answer to this poignant question will ultimately depend on your tolerance to cannabis in all its myriad varieties. Many cannabis users rely on high potency oils right before bed because it kicks in fast and helps them sleep deeply throughout the night/morning. For others, a quick toke or vape is enough to put them in a dream-like state before they drift off to sleep. Another popular method to set your sails right on the sea of sleep is sleeping high while on edibles. If you’re not familiar with cannabis edibles, or if you were but avoid them because of their delayed, long-lasting and potent effects then this might seem like a bad idea to you. If, on the other hand, you’re a frequent edibles dropper who has learned how to manage the mind-melting effects then edibles before bedtime can be very effective. Learning how to incorporate indica edibles for sleep into your routine doesn’t have to be difficult - for some it’s as easy as counting sheep. Let’s review some ways in which sleeping high on edibles can be very beneficial and healthy. First, let’s discuss the merits of how safe it is to go to sleep while high, then we’ll explore why edibles make you sleepy, and finally we’ll list some of the best ways to sleep well with edibles before bed.
IS IT SAFE TO GO TO SLEEP WHILE HIGH?
A lot of savvy stoners can go their entire mellow lives without having issues with what’s in their pipes, bongs or vapes. We often hear about how cannabis can wrestle your sanity from you, or how it sometimes causes bouts of insomnia, restlessness or paranoia. Some beginners experience these sorts of negative weed effects, but it seems like the more familiar you become with cannabis - and the more refined your tolerance becomes - the better you’re able to manage what weed can do for you mind & body. Edibles are one of the most controversial and much-maligned kinds of cannabis products that suffer from biases surrounding these kinds of “bad trips” or “overpowering experiences”. Why are edibles so reviled by some, and yet are among the most praised of all bud products by others? In most cases, it all comes down to timing - i.e. the potential for delayed psychoactive effects, extremely long-lasting cannabis-induced episodes or overly potent experiences. Have you ever dropped an indica edible for sleep and had it couch-lock you before you even got up to brush your teeth? What about a strong cup of sleepy, sativa tea that helps you sleep deep but leaves you feeling foggy-brained for half the day after you wake up? It doesn’t matter what kind of cannabis consumable you take, sometimes just letting your body digest a potent edible can have a whole bunch of ill-timed or sporadic effects. These kinds of unpredictable effects can make it hard to rely on cannabis for sleeping, not to mention they can throw wrenches in your evening/morning plans if they kick in too hard, too slowly or for too long. Even though they can be unpredictable, especially in the beginning when you’re developing your tolerances to cannabinoids and terpenes, edibles before bed can be safe & effective as a sleep aid. To determine if it is safe to go to sleep while high, let’s go over some cannabis edibles How long do edibles last in your system? That depends on your tolerance to cannabis, what kind of cannabis it was, when you take it, how much you take, and how efficient your digestive system is. In short, there are many factors that affect cannabis edibles’ effects on your mind & body which makes them almost impossible to predict. What kinds of edibles before bed are least effective? Sweets, treats and anything with lots of sugars, carbs or other energy-boosting ingredients like caffeine might do the opposite of a bedtime edible and keep you awake all night. Try to avoid the usual chocolates, candies or baked bud goods and rely on edible teas, beverages, or healthy edible alternatives as a sleep aid. How can you predict when an edible will ‘kick in’? Practice, practice, practice. There’s no substitute for experience with many different kinds of edibles, various doses and made from many kinds of cannabis strains. The more familiar you are with cannabis in all its varieties, the less likely you will be to be surprised by a hard-hitting, slow-acting brownie or an enervating cannabis infused tea. How do you know if a cannabis edible is working or not? This is actually a lot more common of a question than you might think. For a lot of people getting into edibles for sleep, the effects of the cannabis they ingested don’t become apparent until they’re already fast asleep. This means that you might not even know if the edibles are working unless you get up to go to the bathroom and discover that you’re high as a kite. In another example, many people’s experiences with edibles at bedtime only last for a handful of hours: they might drift off to sleep feeling fine, get high and sleep deep, then wake up already out of their nightly high. It’s important to try many different kinds, doses and timing of edibles to find what works best for your cannabis tolerance/habits. When should you stop taking edibles for sleep? If you ever have an adverse reaction or any time consuming cannabis makes you feel extremely anxious or ill, you should stop taking edibles until you can figure out what caused the negative experience. Sometimes it’s food-related, others it’s the strain of cannabis itself, either way you need to trust what your body is telling you and be careful.
WHY DO EDIBLES MAKE ME SLEEPY?
The aim with cannabis isn’t to become completely reliant on it when it comes to sleeping consistently. Sleep management is a tricky thing because life has an annoying habit of always making us prioritize sleep at the bottom of the list, when in fact it should be resting peacefully at the top of our priorities. For this reason, anything that can help us fall asleep or stay asleep is often valued very highly amongst most busy, hard-working individuals. Whether it’s sleepy time tea, light snacks or treats that don’t impede your restfulness, or a soothing incense or essential oil infused in the air we’re always on the lookout for supplements to good sleep. Cannabis is obviously well-known for its sleep-inducing properties, doubly so in the edibles department. Many people get really high in a short amount of time their first few times taking edibles, especially if they don’t already understand their tolerance to THC. A number of people also experience very sleepy, dopey and foggy effects that make them want to lie down and melt away into a blissful slumber. Have you ever wondered ‘why edibles make me sleepy’? We took the time to summarize the main reasons why edibles make you sleepy more often than your average joint or bong:
Edibles Are Long Lasting
Sleeping while high on edibles is great if you don’t have much in the way of plans the next day. If you’re a busy type of you’ve got an important day ahead, you might want to consider skipping the edibles before bedtime. Be careful whenever you take edibles for sleep because they can last a long time as they’re digested slowly and cannabinoids are introduced into your system.
Edibles Can Be Unpredictable
Not only do the psychoactive properties of edibles last for many hours at a time, the effects in question can be all over the map. Some people see every color and every shape imaginable in the spaces in front of them, others barely feel a rush of warmth to their toes. You need to know how they affect you before you go and dose a sleepy-time amount.
Edibles Come In Many Forms
Unique shapes, sizes, flavors, aromas, textures, nutritional values and doses abound in the world of cannabis edibles. Anything you ingest and digest is technically a cannabis edible, so the options are almost limitless.
Edibles Are Delayed Activation
Unlike smoking which is processed through the lungs and into the bloodstream fairly quickly, edibles have to be digested before they’re introduced into your system. Your metabolism, fitness, genetics, diet and digestive health all contribute to how quickly/efficiently cannabis compounds are processed by your ECS.
Edibles Are Absorbed Differently
Even low dose edible gummies can hit harder than your average bong hit because the digestive system does a much more thorough job of absorbing & processing cannabinoids than your lungs. Think of your gastrointestinal system as an engine that can run off cannabis a lot longer, and get more power out of the cannabis you ingest than you would inhaling.
Edibles Are Potent
Most cannabis edibles contain intermediate to expert levels of THC, CBD and other cannabinoids than some flowers or vapes. Cannabis concentrates like shatter, wax, resin or distillates still take the cake for potency, but many edibles are up there in terms of THC strength. Not only are edibles long-lasting, unpredictable, multifaceted, time-delayed, uniquely absorbed and potent but they also come in almost any form you can imagine. Cannabis sleep caps, drops, teas, lozenges, sprays, oils, foods and beverages make edibles for sleep easy to incorporate into your routine no matter what form you prefer. What’s more, sleeping while high on edibles is a thing of the past with all of the CBD edibles available online and in-stores. A ton of people are making the switch to non-psychoactive edibles to help them sleep without messing with their brains. CBD seems to achieve much of the same results as THC - deeper sleep, sleeping longer durations, sleeping consistently throughout the week, having vivid dreams, etc - without the ‘high hangover’ some people get from other cannabinoids.
HOW TO SLEEP BETTER WITH EDIBLES BEFORE BED
So, we’ve covered the ins and outs of what makes it safe to sleep while high on cannabis edibles but you might still be wondering how to get the most out of some midnight marijuana cookies. If you’re struggling to sleep then edibles before bed might do the trick and help you avoid the sleeping pills. To increase your chances of success you should try to start with a low dose edible and slowly increase the potency as you experiment with different kinds. Variety is the spice of life, and it also makes a big difference with the livelihood of your cannabis tolerance. Keep trying different potencies, different combinations of foods/beverages with different cannabis strains to find the ones that work best for you. Don’t forget that everyone’s cannabis tolerance is unique, so what works for others might not be suitable for your needs. We all sleep differently too, after all, so if you put in the work and take the extra steps to make cannabis a comfortable part of your bedtime routine you’ll catch more Z’s and spend less time awake and wondering what might work better. For some inspiration or a few edibles to start with, we’ve included some of the highest quality edibles suited for putting you into the deepest sleep of your life. Haute Health has a rotating inventory of potent, tasty and nutritious cannabis edibles that can help you hit the snooze button for some much needed shuteye. Haute Health has all the weed you need to sleep deep, so stop dreaming about getting proper rest and just trust in the sleep-improving qualities of the high-quality edibles at Haute Health. 10 MG THC WATERMELONS 20 MG CBD FULL-SPECTRUM CAPSULES 50 MG CBD FULL-SPECTRUM CAPSULES 50 MG THC CHOCOLATE & HAZELNUT 150 MG THC CHOCOLATE POT LEAF 300 MG THC POWDER DRINK MIX 500 MG THC ROOT BEER FLOAT COOKIES
