Last updated 3 August 2026 · Originally published 2 September 2020
Sleep is one of the most common reasons people buy CBD, and one of the least well supported. That is an uncomfortable thing for a CBD publication to write, but it is what the trials show.
The more interesting question is not whether CBD is a sedative — it does not appear to be one — but whether it helps some people sleep for other reasons entirely.
At a glance
- CBD is not a conventional sedative and does not reliably make people drowsy.
- The most direct insomnia trial found no improvement in insomnia severity or most sleep measures with 150 mg nightly, although one objective measure improved after two weeks.
- CBD may help some people indirectly by easing anxiety or discomfort that is keeping them awake, but this has not been clearly demonstrated.
- CBD-only trials remain limited, and positive results often come from products containing other cannabinoids.
- Many retail servings are far below the doses used in research, but no effective CBD dose for insomnia has been established.
- Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia has far stronger evidence.
The trial that tested it properly
In 2024, Australian researchers ran the study the field needed: a randomised, placebo-controlled trial of 150 mg of CBD taken nightly by thirty adults with moderate-to-severe primary insomnia, using daily sleep diaries, wrist actigraphy and standard questionnaires.[1]
The headline results were null. Insomnia severity, self-reported time to fall asleep, sleep efficiency and time awake after falling asleep did not differ from placebo.
After two weeks, however, the CBD group had better actigraphy-measured sleep efficiency and consistently higher wellbeing scores. These were secondary findings. The authors’ own summary was that 150 mg CBD was similar to placebo on most sleep outcomes while sustaining greater wellbeing — suggesting, in their words, more prominent psychological effects.
A companion analysis found no detectable next-day cognitive impairment under the conditions of the trial.[2]
It remains the most direct test available. Its message is not that CBD does nothing; it is that 150 mg did not behave like a reliable insomnia treatment.
Why CBD might help sleep without being sedating
Here is the useful reframe. Many people with insomnia are not simply lacking sedation. Anxiety, pain, discomfort and persistent thoughts may be what keeps them awake.
CBD has been studied more extensively for anxiety than for insomnia, although the evidence there is mixed as well. If it eases the problem keeping someone awake, sleep may improve as a consequence — and that would feel exactly like a sleep-aid effect.
This may explain why some positive sleep findings come from studies in which sleep was only a secondary outcome. It does not show that CBD acts directly on sleep, only that it may sometimes help at one remove.
What the wider evidence says
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis pooled six randomised trials involving 1,077 people.[3] Cannabinoid products overall produced a modest improvement in subjective sleep quality, but the studies varied considerably.
The important detail for anyone buying CBD: CBD-only interventions did not show a significant benefit. The positive signal came from formulations containing other cannabinoids.
The review is therefore more supportive of some cannabinoid formulations than of CBD as a standalone sleep aid. The broader conclusion remains difficult to avoid: the evidence base does not match the scale of CBD’s use for sleep.
What about CBD and melatonin?
Melatonin is a hormone the body produces as a signal of biological night. As a supplement, it is particularly useful for problems of timing — jet lag, shift work, or a body clock running late. Its effect on ordinary chronic insomnia is less impressive, and timing can matter as much as dose.
CBD is not an established treatment for shifting the body clock. If your sleep timing has drifted, melatonin has a mechanism and evidence that fit the problem more closely. If your difficulty is anxiety, discomfort or an inability to switch off, the case for CBD is more plausible — although still not well demonstrated.
Many sleep products combine CBD with melatonin, CBN or THC, making it impossible to isolate CBD’s contribution. Our guide to CBN and sleep covers that in more detail.
If you are going to try it
Many retail doses may be too low to provide a meaningful test. The most direct insomnia trial used 150 mg nightly, while many oils and gummies provide only 10 to 25 mg per serving. Someone who tries a small amount for a few nights and notices nothing has not necessarily established that CBD cannot help them.
That does not mean 150 mg is an effective sleep dose. The trial still found no improvement on most outcomes, and researchers have not identified a dose that reliably treats insomnia. More is also not automatically better: larger amounts cost considerably more and can make medication interactions and liver-enzyme elevations more relevant. If you increase the amount, do it deliberately rather than repeatedly adding extra doses during the night, and discuss substantial doses with a pharmacist — particularly if you take prescription medicines.
Think about what is actually keeping you awake. If anxiety, pain or discomfort is contributing, CBD has a more plausible indirect route to helping. If your body clock has shifted, CBD is not an established treatment for correcting it.
Watch the other ingredients. Melatonin, CBN and THC have effects of their own. A product containing several sleep ingredients tells you little about what CBD contributed.
Check for interactions, particularly if you take sedatives. Do not combine CBD with alcohol or sleeping medication without professional advice.
Try the treatment with the strongest evidence first. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is recommended as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia, and its benefits can persist after treatment ends.[4] It requires more effort than a gummy, but it has much better evidence.
None of this is medical advice. Persistent insomnia is worth taking to a doctor: it is treatable, and it can be a symptom of something else worth identifying.
For the wider picture, see our guide to CBD and what the research actually shows, our reporting on CBD and anxiety, or browse Sleep.
References
- Narayan AJ, Downey LA, Rose S, Di Natale L, Hayley AC. Cannabidiol for moderate-severe insomnia: a randomized controlled pilot trial of 150 mg of nightly dosing. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2024;20(5):753–763. doi:10.5664/jcsm.10998
- Narayan AJ, Hayley AC, Rose S, Di Natale L, Downey LA. The effect of nightly use of 150 mg cannabidiol on daytime neurocognitive performance in primary insomnia: a randomized controlled pilot trial. Psychopharmacology. 2025;242(2):297–308. doi:10.1007/s00213-024-06674-x
- da Silva GHS, Barbosa EC, de Lima FR, et al. Effectiveness of cannabinoids on subjective sleep quality in people with and without insomnia or poor sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised studies. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2025;84:102156. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2025.102156
- Edinger JD, Arnedt JT, Bertisch SM, et al. Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2021;17(2):255–262. doi:10.5664/jcsm.8986
About this article
Substantially rewritten in August 2026, consolidating our earlier reporting on CBD and sleep into a single guide. This update adds the 2024 randomised trial of 150 mg nightly CBD in insomnia, explains why CBD may help sleep indirectly rather than as a sedative, and sets out how it differs from melatonin.
