Daylight Saving Time and Cannabis

Daylight Saving Time in the USA starts on the second Sunday in March and finishes on the first Sunday in November. It’s a fixed arrangement that was settled in 2007. While some people will not be impacted from the change, a good number will. Especially when it comes to sleep. 

Cannabis Can Save the Day with Daylight Saving Time 

Going back to standard time will give us an extra hour of sleep in November. However, changing the clock in either direction can entirely mess with our circadian rhythm and regular sleep. 

It’s a common assumption that Daylight Saving Time is there because of farming, but the real reason is energy saving. The idea is to use more hours of natural light and reduce how much energy everyone spends in their homes.

Transitioning out of Daylight Saving Time is associated with increased chances of accidents at work and even accidents on the road. Much of this owes to the fact that when the time on the clock changes it messes up with the sleep cycle of people. For some, it may take only a day or two to adjust to the one-hour change of time. But for many others this is simply not true. 

You’ve probably heard about the circadian rhythm before. It’s a term that designates our inner clock: the time we usually go to sleep and the time we usually wake up and have our breakfast. These biological responses are largely triggered by the presence or absence of light. 

When the brain receives information that outside is dark, it naturally produces melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep. Melatonin lowers the blood pressure and heart rate, thus preparing the body to take a rest from the day. When we’re exposed to light (including light coming from our smart devices) the body promotes other hormones, such as cortisol, signaling the brain to wake up. 

Daylight Saving Time and even moving to another time zone or another country can impact our circadian rhythm. One of the options to reset our sleep cycle in these instances is to use cannabis. 

CBD Can Help You Adjust with the New Time

CBD can work as a perfect medicine to promote sleep. When taken at night, it interacts with the body's endocrine system to facilitate higher melatonin levels, and to ultimately help with falling asleep faster and better. 

It’s important to get the dosing right. If you’ve already experimented with CBD, you might already have the idea how much is best for you. If you’ve never tried it and want to test now, it can be tricky in the start to get the dosage right. 

According to some studies, small amounts of CBD may actually generate the opposite effect. So, instead of pushing you to sleep, CBD in small doses can act as a stimulant and postpone sleep.  

However, “small” or “big” doses of CBD are different for everyone. So, the best way to test is to go with microdosing. For example, take a few drops of CBD a few hours before you plan to go to bed just to see how you will react to it. Then, an hour before bed, take a few more drops. 

An hour is usually enough for the body to process any cannabinoids. Oral ingestion means that the CBD will travel in the digestive tract and take time before it delivers results. So, no panic if you see that nothing happens in the first hour. 

THC is Also an Option

CBD will work great for some people, and then again, for some people it may not. Its effect to promote good sleep will only be temporary and consumption may generate results for a few short days and that's it. 

In this case, THC can help too. Look for strains that promote sleep or that combine both THC with other cannabinoids such as CBN, which is known as the sleep cannabinoid. Used in moderation, cannabis products can stabilize the sleep cycle and help deliver a restful night.

Also read on Soft Secrets:

- Microdosing with CBD Improves Sleep

- Best Weed Strains For Insomnia

- Is CBN the new Melatonin?