Minnesota officials released results of a study funded by the state that showed medical marijuana has significant benefits to people with sleep apnea.
Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management collects and analyzes patient data, unlike many other states who have legalized cannabis. This report examines sleep apnea – a disorder that can cause people to cease breathing while they sleep.
OCM found in its report that 40 percent of people who had been certified for the medical cannabis program because they suffer from sleep apnea experienced an average reduction of 30 percent in their symptoms. They were also able to sustain this improvement over a period at least four month.
Officials from the state said that this study “is one of the largest studies ever undertaken involving patients with obstructive apnea, medical cannabis and other sleep disorders.”
The research—which looked at data from 3,102 patients enrolled in the medical cannabis program with sleep apnea from August 1, 2018 to July 31, 2023—found that 39.4 percent of all patients who participated experienced significant improvement in their sleep within four months of beginning treatment and were able to maintain the sleep improvement for an additional four months.
Patients who reported mild to moderate fatigue when they enrolled saw a significant improvement in four months. And 33.5 per cent were able achieve and maintain better scores.
Disturbed sleep and tiredness were reported by patients as the most frequent symptoms. 93% and 88% of patients respectively had scores ranging from moderate to severe at baseline. Among patients with moderate to severe disturbed sleep, 60.8 percent saw a ≥30 percent reduction in disturbed sleep symptoms within four months. Of those patients with data after initial improvement, 73.6 percent maintained ≥30 percent improvement in their disturbed sleep for at least four months after initial improvement.”
Grace Christensen (a senior OCM research analyst) said in a release that “the results show meaningful changes” in the disturbed sleep patterns and fatigue of patients who started using medical marijuana.
The symptoms of obstructive sleeping apnea affect both the mental and physical wellbeing of a patient, she explained.
Patients with [sleep apnea] OCM reported that those who had also expressed symptoms of anxiety or depression also displayed signs of relief. More than one third (39.8%) of people experiencing anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms were able achieve relief.
Minnesota’s program for medical marijuana is one of the few that is legally required to collect data about patients and publish research. Minnesota’s program gathers data on participating patients, and then publishes research to add scientific knowledge about medical marijuana.
An industry-sponsored survey published in January found that about 16 per cent of Americans over 21 use cannabis to help them sleep. It is more common to use marijuana for sleep than prescription sleeping pills (12%) or alcohol (11%), though it’s still less popular than supplements (26%) and over-the-counter (or OTC) sleep aids (19%).
Back in Minnesota, in March a lawmaker filed legislation that would create a system to allow legal access to psilocybin for medical purposes, just days after introducing a separate bill that would legalize personal psilocybin use and possession among adults.
In the same month, an Illinois legislative committee approved a proposal to expand eligibility of expungement for marijuana-related criminal record and resentencing.
New Hampshire senators approve psilocybin decriminalization bill
Mike Latimer provided the photo.