A paper published online ahead of print for the Journal of Psychosocial Oncology by Zhou and colleagues reports that a majority of cancer patients who took part in semi-structured interviews claimed that medicinal cannabis improved sleep. Improved sleep was also associated with improved health. Additionally, no participant in the study reported undesirable side effects when cannabis was used for sleep or that cannabis proved ineffectual when used for sleep. Patients also reported that cannabis use led to decreased use of sleep medications.
Though in the number of participants in the study was relatively small (24), the findings warrant additional studies to better understand efficacy and safety.
The Journal of Psychosocial Oncology has more.