Medical Marijuana for Insomnia – Considerations

What most of us wouldn’t give for a good night’s sleep. Without it, we can’t function at peak emotional, physical, and mental levels, yet in today’s high-stress, plugged-in world, so many of us don’t get decent sleep.

Ailments like insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and excessive daytime sleepiness cause consumers to turn to over-the-counter and prescription pharmaceuticals for relief, yet many of these medications have their own serious side effects and adverse risks.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, 50 to 70 million U.S. adults experience symptoms of a sleep disorder.

About 30 to 40 percent of the population will experience insomnia at some point in their lives, and about 10 to 15 percent of adults will deal with chronic insomnia.

So if getting shut-eye is becoming harder and harder, you’re not alone.

The science of sleep via cannabis

There are different strains of marijuana. Some are more energizing, and some are calming and sedating depending on the balance of the different cannabinoids.

First, here’s a quick primer on the science behind marijuana. This herb works because it contains different cannabinoids, two of which you’ll see most often:

Cannabidiol (CBD). CBD has a number of health benefits, and is nonpsychoactive, meaning it doesn’t cause you to feel “high.”
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC, a psychoactive cannabinoid, is primarily responsible for that “high” feeling.

Something else THC is responsible for? Inducing sleep. So you’ll want a strain that contains more THC than CBD.

Things to consider before you try marijuana

Smoking of any kind is a known health risk and should be approached with caution. Also, medicinal use of marijuana is still illegal in many areas.

Talk to your doctor about your sleep cycles. There may be long-term health consequences with interrupted REM, because much of the immune function repair takes place in deep sleep.

Long-term use of any sleep aid isn’t recommended.

Timing your intake for bedtime

Timing is important when it comes to using cannabis, especially for sleep. This is also why Tishler seldom recommends edibles, pointing out that, “They are unreliable about when they’ll kick in. Sometimes it’s about one hour, other times it can be more like two to three hours.”

It can also affect us for longer than intended and cause grogginess in the morning. “Because of the way cannabis is processed from our gut to our liver, the duration of action can be much longer, like 8 to 12 hours.”

While everyone’s physiology is different, it’s usually better to ingest the marijuana at least an hour before bedtime. According to Tishler, an hour before bedtime is ideal because the cannabis will work for about three to four hours, helping you to fall asleep. “That way, people don’t feel the effects right as they are going to sleep, which can cause excitability and prevent sleep.”

My own clinical experience with patients enrolled in the NJ Medical Marijuana program is that sleep is one area of well-being that improves almost universally!

Those interested in seeing if a Medical Marijuana can alleviate their symptoms can learn more at www.NJMedicalMarijuana.us, reach out to our office at 908 450 7002 or schedule an evaluation.

September 9, 2019September 9, 2019

NJ Medical Marijuana Recent Changes

NJ Law changes involving Medical Marijuana and the Workplace

There have been some recent developments in NJ cannabis law: a recent court decision (‘Wild’) involving the disability discrimination claims of a worker who used medical marijuana, and the newly enacted Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act.

A recent court decision and a change in New Jersey’s medical marijuana law should make the Medical Marijuana patients feel a little more comfortable about their protections under the NJ law.

For many years, employers and courts concluded that marijuana use (including medical marijuana) is illegal under federal law, so employers could continue with their zero tolerance policies. California was the first state to authorize medical marijuana, and it did not provide any employment law protections for medical marijuana patients. Over a decade ago, the California Supreme Court in Ross v. RagingWire Telecommunications,174 P.3d 200 (Cal. 2008), concluded that nothing in the medical marijuana statute required employers to accommodate medical marijuana use.

On July 2, 2019, Governor Murphy signed into law the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act, N.J.S.A. C24:6I-2, et seq. Importantly, the “nothing in this act” language, which forms the basis for the cert petition, has been replaced with a new section that provides: “It shall be unlawful to take any adverse employment action against an employee who is a registered qualifying patient based solely on the employee’s status as a registrant with the commission.”

That patient friendly provision now moves New Jersey into the group of states whose medical marijuana laws expressly provide employment law protections for medical marijuana users (i.e., Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia).

The Honig Act further established a procedure that employers must follow when an employee tests positive for marijuana.

If an employee (or prospective employee) tests positive for cannabis, the employer is now required to: (i) provide written notice of the right to provide a valid medical explanation for the test result; and (ii) offer an opportunity to present a valid medical explanation for the result.

The employee or applicant then has three working days after receipt of that written notice to explain the result or request a retest of the original sample (at the employee’s expense). A valid explanation for the positive test result may include an authorization for medical cannabis issued by a health care practitioner or proof of registration with the medical marijuana commission.

As a result, if an employee demonstrates that she is a valid medical marijuana user, employers will not be permitted to use that alone as a basis to take adverse employment action, unless the employer can demonstrate one of the federal exemptions applies to it. The Honig Act expressly exempts employers that would be in violation of federal law, would lose a federal contract or federal funding, or would result in a “loss of a licensing-related benefit pursuant to federal law” if the employer failed to enforce their drug free work space policy.

For example, most federal contractors are required to comply with the federal Drug Free Workplace Act, which precludes the possession or use of controlled substances at work sites. 41 U.S.C. §8101(a)(5)(B). Federal contractors in New Jersey may cite the DFWA as a reason they cannot be forced to excuse an employee’s medical marijuana use. Cf. Carlson v. Charter Communications, (9th Cir., Nov. 19, 2018) (explaining federal law, the DFWA, controlled whether a federal contractor could employ a medical marijuana user).

The revised law does permit employers to take adverse action if an employee uses any intoxicating substance, including medical marijuana, during work hours or on work premises at any time.

August 27, 2019September 9, 2019

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