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What Is CBN Actually Doing? The ‘Sleep Cannabinoid,’ Explained

Here are the science-backed and useful answers, according to sleep experts and cannabis specialists.

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Walk through the sleep section of almost any cannabis or hemp shop and you will see the same ingredient over and over again: CBN.

It’s tucked into gummies, tinctures, capsules, and drinks, usually surrounded by moons, clouds, and promises of a better night’s sleep. Some brands call it the sleepy cannabinoid. Others make it sound like a plant-derived off switch for your brain. But that’s getting ahead of the science.

CBN has long been known mostly as a compound that becomes more prominent as THC ages, plus a piece of cannabis folklore: old weed makes you sleepy, old weed contains more CBN, therefore CBN must be a powerful sedative.

A handful of recent human studies have found that it may help with nighttime awakenings, sleep disturbance, or falling asleep. The results just aren’t consistent enough to guarantee that the CBN gummy in your cart will do any of those things.

It also doesn’t help that most “CBN products” contain several other active ingredients. If a gummy includes THC, CBD, melatonin, magnesium, and CBN, figuring out which one made you sleepy becomes a mystery.

So, what does CBN actually do? Here are the science-backed and useful answers.

Quick Answer: What Does CBN Do?

CBN, or cannabinol, is a minor cannabinoid that becomes more common as THC ages and breaks down. It’s much less intoxicating than THC, although some people may still find it calming or mildly drowsy.

Recent studies suggest it could help with certain parts of sleep, particularly waking up during the night. One small study also found that a very high dose helped people with insomnia fall asleep faster.

There is no accepted standard dose for sleep, however, and CBN has not been proven to treat insomnia. It is better viewed as a promising sleep ingredient than a reliable sleep medication.

CBN is essentially what happens to THC when cannabis gets old.

Exposure to oxygen, heat, and light causes THC to slowly degrade and get weaker, with CBN becoming more prominent along the way. This is part of where CBN’s sleepy reputation came from. People noticed that older weed sometimes felt more sedating and assumed CBN must be responsible. That theory made sense. It just was not backed by much human research.

CBN interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system, which helps regulate functions including mood, pain, appetite, and sleep. Its activity at cannabinoid receptors is much weaker than THC’s, so CBN generally doesn’t produce the same obvious high.

Dr. Peter Grinspoon, a Harvard physician and author of Aging Well with Cannabis, explained to VICE that this weaker activity may be enough to promote calm or drowsiness without creating much of a traditional high.

Still, shoppers should look at the whole formula. A gummy may advertise CBN in giant letters while quietly containing enough THC to........

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