Why Does Weed Make You Tired?

Picture this familiar setting: You’ve got the tunes pumping, the vibe is sublime, and all your friends & family have gathered to puff-puff-pass the weekend away. Within the first few inhales you feel that friendly wave of cannabis feelings wash over you. It might start slowly or come on strong, but you don’t fret because you’re in the zen-zone. All of the sudden you wake up on one of your living room chairs, achy from sleeping in a curled up ball with nothing but a thin blanket covering you. Uh oh, it happened again… You fell asleep from the weed.

We’ve all been there. It’s no secret that some people struggle to keep their eyes open while their minds or spirits have already opened from cannabis. Sometimes this is because of your lack of tolerance to cannabinoids or terpenes; or maybe you’re smoking one of the weed strains that make you feel tired or sleepy.

There’s a lot of variability in how cannabis affects people, even from one crop to another. What was a fantastic high last time can shift into confusion, fatigue or snoozing the next. Cannabis is so diverse that even the same strains can have subtle differences each time we light them up or eat them as edibles. We also have to keep in mind how our minds & bodies are in constant flux, so no two weed experiences are truly ever the same.

This isn’t something to fret about, however. Instead, we should embrace the wonderful diversity and variability of our cannabis experiences. That being said, we need to have some measure of predictability in our lives to be able to stay safe, comfortable and have some fun. Why does sativa make you tired? Does smoking weed make you tired more so than edibles? What weed strains make you feel tired or sleepy? Let’s get cozy – but don’t fall asleep! – as we sort out the facts from the dreams on how weed makes you sleepy.

Does Weed Make You Sleepy?

The simplest answer to the age-old question of “why does weed make you sleepy?” is, bluntly, it depends on the person and on the cannabis. That wouldn’t make for much of a blog, so we’ll hash out this blunt statement some more.

Cannabinoids

For most people when they feel the dope making them dopey or sleepy, the psychoactive properties of cannabis are to blame. THC – otherwise known to us as Tetrahydrocannabinol – is famous for making you feel all the high when you absorb cannabis, but it can also be responsible for some of the lows too. THC isn’t necessarily the only culprit for hitting your biological snooze button, and yet it seems to have a very strong ability to make you feel sleepy.

Why does THC in weed make you sleepy then? You might assume that anything that causes hallucinations, the giggles, the munchies or just all-around feel-good vibes would likely make you feel more awake, no? Think of it this way instead:

When you’re feeling those psychoactive effects come on, they can cut off some of your perceptions or senses, such as pain, tiredness, or anxiety. This does not imply that you’re ‘free’ of these physiological symptoms, but you don’t notice them as much or at all because you’re essentially ‘distracted’ by your high-ness. So, your body is still processing these feelings or states of being, but your mind doesn’t perceive them in the same way while you’re flying high.

This is not to suggest that cannabis can’t help to ease the physiological or neurological effects of these kinds of symptoms – weed is well-renowned for its abilities to treat our aches, pains, swelling, nausea, lack of appetite or even poor sleep and insomnia. We just thought it was prudent to mention that your body is still burning energy and processing things normally when you’re high – it’s your mind that is occupied with those trippy colors, moving art-pieces or counting sound waves from the speaker.

CBD and CBN – Cannabidiol and Cannabinol, respectively – are also known to assist stoners and medical marijuana users alike in their pursuits of better sleep. CBN in particular has gained a lot of popularity in recent years as enhancing your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep more efficiently. CBD is just good for nearly everything, which includes drifting off to sleep. The major differences between these cannabinoids and THC is that neither CBD or CBN seem to make people feel tired, whereas THC can induce heavy lids, nodding heads and yawns aplenty.

There are hundreds of more phytocompounds in cannabis that we have barely scratched the surface on, so we will likely learn more about the combinations of cannabinoids that have the best capabilities for sleep-inducement in the coming years. While we wait for research to catch up to the stoner zeitgeist, just avoid combinations of THC + CBN or high doses of CBD + CBN if you don’t want to doze off after lighting up.

Terpenes

In addition to all the spectrums of cannabinoids like THC, CBD or CBN there are also a staggering number of terpenes that can also play a part in lulling you to sleep. Myrcene and Linalool are some of the usual suspects that can lead to falling asleep suddenly after consuming cannabis. We’ve written extensively on this topic, so instead of taking up real estate on this blog check out these guides on terpenes and how they can influence your cannabis experience.

Dose & Method

An obvious cause-effect for why weed makes you sleepy has to do with how you take it and how much you’re taking. Your dose will obviously have a major say in what you experience, and even though you might have a firm grasp on your tolerance levels you’d be surprised how different weed strains can make you feel tired or sleepy.

In most of the research we’ve reviewed, another hidden figure seems to account for most of the sheep-counting when you’re high on weed: cannabis type or method. Whether you’re wondering which weed strains can make you feel tired or sleepy, or you’re considering the merits of smoking, edibles, concentrates or even topical application, your choice of cannabis can lead to a night of memories or an early night cap.

There isn’t an exact science surrounding which kind of cannabis product will make you sleepier, but there certainly is a lot of information concerning what weed strains make you feel more tired or more sleepy. We’ll cover that in another section of this article, so for now here’s a brief breakdown of how your method of choice can cause you to check out too early at your next weed party:

Does Smoking Weed Make You Sleepy?
Smoking is one of the more obvious culprits for why weed makes you tired. Although we have nothing against lighting up and toking some buds, there’s no denying that smoking has both short- and long-term effects on your health. The act of inhaling smoke – and vape for that matter – can use up a lot of your energy in expunging the lungs of the toxins, particles and strain from smoking. This can make you feel tired and rundown as less oxygen is absorbed into your body which has even more compounded effects on your brain.

On another note, smoking or vaping cannabis usually hits pretty fast, so this can cause you to go through the gauntlet of cannabis effects in a shorter period of time than edibles or topicals.

Can Edibles Cause Sleepiness?
Edibles are also infamous for making people fall asleep on the cannabis-job, but for the opposite reasons that smoking weed makes you sleepy. Edibles take time to be absorbed by the body because they’re digested. It’s not an exact ‘time-release’ dose like with some medications, but think of edibles similarly. Anything you drink, however, can be processed much quicker so there is the chance to experience the effects a lot faster when you switch up the dosing method.

Typically speaking, any form of edible cannabis will take 30-60 minutes before you feel the effects. This is very dependent on your tolerance, dose and extraneous factors like your diet, fitness and even neurological health.

Are Concentrates Known for Knocking You Out?
Concentrates can be a doozy – so much so that they can knock you onto your bed, your couch or even the floor if you’re not ready for them. Because concentrates like oils, dabs, shatter and other consumables are very potent, they have a higher propensity for making you feel not just sleepy but ‘dead headed’. Concentrates can happen fast, hit hard, and last long which is an obvious combination for sleepiness or extreme lethargy. This one doesn’t need much more explaining, but for more information on how concentrates differ from other types of cannabis products check out this guide on concentrates.

Why Does Sativa Make Me Tired?

We wanted to tackle this common myth as its own section because it keeps coming up at staff parties or stoner hangouts. Many people have assumed – wrongly – that all sativas are sleep-inducing while indicas are notorious couch-lockers or wake-and-bake worthy strains. Have you ever wondered ‘why does sativa make me tired’? You probably have because this was the prevailing belief in the world of weed for decades.

We’ve since learned that it’s not in fact the genetic type or hybridization of cultivars itself that can cause tiredness – as we mentioned before, it’s all in the terpenes. Weed strains that can make you sleepy usually have similar terpene profiles – such as high myrcene or linalool contents. Sure, some of these might be sativa-dominant hybrids or pure sativas, but that isn’t the reason they invoke the sandman.

A 100% indica can make you zonk right out just as much as the most sativa of all sativas – the true sleep-inducing powers of cannabis center around their cannabinoid matrix and terpene profiles, not which plant parents they came from.

This helps to shed light on why some stoners have been so confused by a strain they used to know & love suddenly knock them out, when before they were more than capable of handling that cultivars’ effects.

So, do sativas make you tired? Yes they can, but so can indicas, hybrids, ruderalis or any genetic type of cannabis – it’s what’s inside the buds that determines your experiences with any given strain.

Another important note worth mentioning has to do with how each individual responds to each strain of cannabis. For some, Northern Lights will lay them in bed and tuck them in; and yet, many others dispute this tired effect and claim that it is the perfect, relaxed high for stargazing. This example can be multiplied to almost every unique cultivar of cannabis. There are thousands of unique variations of cannabis out there, and billions of people – that’s zillions of combinations of plant and human genetics to interplay with, so tracking what someone can expect is like trying to count the stars at night by the naked eye.

Weed Strains That Make You Feel Tired & Sleepy

Lastly, we’d like to offer you some weed strains that make you feel tired that you can buy directly from the best online dispensary in Canada: Haute Health. Whether you want to know which strains to avoid, or you’re actually seeking some nighttime weed for better sleep, these are the kinds of cannabis that are known to help you sleep tight – and high:

NORTHERN LIGHTS

One of the all-time greats for stargazing or drifting off to join the night sky in your dreams, Northern Lights has the qualities of gently nudging you towards rest & relaxation.

GRANDADDY PURPLE

Who better to tuck you in for bedtime than ol’ Grandaddy Purps? This iconic strain will have you catching Z’s like them Purple Boyz – Tim & Eric reference for the win!

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES

Cookies before bedtime?! Yes please! Girl Scout Cookies might be just the thing you need in your sleep routine to get better quality rest.

KOSHER KUSH

Everything is Kosher when you stick with Kush. Kosher Kush is adept for bringing down your active mind, quieting your nerves, relaxing your body and balancing your spirit.

GG4

What’s your sleep number? If you don’t know, look no further because Gorilla Glue #4 (GG4) will have you sleeping deeper than the jungles this hearty strain emerged from.

HARLEQUIN

We’re not going to be cheeky and make a joke about spending the night with a Harlequin… Or maybe that’s exactly what we’re implying with this sleepy strain?