Sleep-challenged consumers are waking up to CBD as a sleep aid, according to data collected by Chicago-based CBD market analyst Brightfield Group for its U.S. CBD Consumer Insights.
For the final quarter of 2020, Brightfield reports that sleep was the No. 1 attribute that CBD consumers wanted from those products, for the first time ranking higher than the previous top two attributes, relaxation and physical relief.
But the data also indicates that consumers are choosing CBD for help hitting the sack for convenience, as use for insomnia dropped from the previous year. “In Q4 2019, 19% of CBD consumers reported using CBD for insomnia. In Q4 2020, that dropped to 14%. CBD consumers aren’t using it because they medically must; they’re choosing CBD because they can,” Brightfield reported.
And those who seek sleep-relief from CBD tend to like their gummies, according to the Brightfield data. But they also like CBD flower, pre-rolled cannabis joints and vape cartridges, where they over-index by nearly a third compared to all users of those products. That may be because those inhalables can deliver a quick dose of CBD, which makes them very handy to slow a racing mind or ease unexpected sleeplessness.
The data also revealed that those CBD for sleep consumers also use CBD for other reasons and do so daily and have for a while. Nearly half (45%) take CBD daily and slightly more than half (52%) have been using CBD products for more than a year.
And this trend may only be just getting started. Manufacturers began in 2020 marketing a lesser known cannabinoid called cannabinol (CBN) as a sleep aid. Whether CBN will catch on with sheep-counting consumers has yet to be seen.
“Anecdotal evidence inspired brands to market CBN products as sleep aids, but the jury is still out whether it produces sedative effects by itself,” reported Brightfield Group. “A handful of studies have been conducted to determine its efficacy; while some show promising results, others contradict them.”
The Brightfield Group U.S. CBD Consumer Insights report surveyed 5,000 CBD consumers during each quarter of the 2020 calendar year.
