The study was conducted by researchers from the University of New Mexico and California Polytechnic State University

The availability of adult-use cannabis retail is correlated with a drop in over-the-counter sleep aids, according to a new study published in the journal, Complementary Therapies in Medicine.

The study “seeks to understand whether people substitute between recreational cannabis and conventional over-the-counter (OTC) sleep medications.”

The researchers used UPC-level data from grocery store scanners in a “multivariable panel regression design” to compare the monthly market share of OTC sleep aids with varying degrees of “dispensary-based cannabis access.” The data included sales, existence, and count in a variety of Colorado counties between December 2013, before cannabis was legal in the state, and December 2014, after the drug had been legal for about a year.

“For the first time, we show a statistically significant negative association between recreational access to cannabis and OTC sleep aid sales, suggesting that at least some recreational purchasers are using cannabis for therapeutic rather than recreational purposes…” researchers wrote.

“Results indicate that enough individuals are switching from OTC sleep aids to recreational cannabis that we can identify a statistically significant reduction in the market share growth of OTC sleep aids in conjunction with access to recreational cannabis using.”

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of New Mexico and California Polytechnic State University.

Researchers reported that the aforementioned negative associations were determined by reduced sales in drugs like sleep-inducing antihistamines like diphenhydramine (also known by its brand name, Benadryl) and doxylamine (the active ingredient in OTC sleep aids like Nyquil and Unisom).

“The magnitude of the market share decline increases as more dispensaries enter a county and with higher county-level cannabis sales,” the authors wrote, noting that “the negative associations are driven by diphenhydramine- and doxylamine-based sleep aids rather than herbal sleep aids and melatonin.”

Although researchers note that sleep disturbances are “not a specific qualifying condition” under any American state-level medical cannabis law, the findings indicate that cannabis is an increasingly popular remedy in the treatment of insomnia — but more study is needed.

“Investigations designed to measure the relative effectiveness and side effect profiles of conventional OTC sleep aids and cannabis-based products are urgently needed to improve treatment of sleep disturbances while minimizing potentially serious negative side effects,” the authors conclude.

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