Using marijuana appears to have a “positive outcome” on people struggling with some eating disorders, according to a new study.

“Cannabis is widely used by people with eating disorders and is widely perceived as beneficial in restrictive and food-averse, but not binge, eating disorder subtypes,” the paper, published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, found.

Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia surveyed more than 7,500 people with a diagnosed or self-reported eating disorder (ED), with more than 3,o00 of whom that used cannabis within the past year. Respondents represented 76 countries, with most residing in Australia (29.7 percent), the United Kingdom (21.7 percent) and the United States (17.6 percent).

“Cannabis received the highest mean ratings of any drug for improving ED symptoms” among people avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, anorexia nervosa and other specified feeding and eating disorder, the study found. People with unspecified feeding or eating disorder “also reported a favorable rating.”

For people with anorexia nervosa specifically, “cannabis use drove reductions in food-related anxiety and guilt, which, together with appetite stimulation, helped normalise their eating,” the study found. “The gastroprotective and antinausea properties of cannabis appear to provide additional therapeutic benefits over and above those provided by appetite stimulation and anxiety reduction.”

For people with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), which involves a lack of desire to eat and aversions to food based on sensory factors such as texture, taste and smell, there is a “transformational effect of cannabis” related to “increased appetite and enhanced ability to recognise hunger cues,” the researchers wrote.

“The higher frequency of daily cannabis use amongst those with ARFID may well reflect self-medication for these therapeutic benefits,” they said. “Indeed, daily use of cannabis flower was generally associated with higher ED symptom improvement scores relative to intermittent use, suggesting that symptom improvement may drive frequency of use.”

In contrast, people with binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa, “provided lower ratings” for marijuana’s efficacy—perhaps because “the appetite-stimulating properties of THC may exacerbate binge/purge symptomatology,” the paper said.

When participants were prompted with open-ended questions, “general mental health was self-reported as improved by cannabis in most respondents regardless of diagnosis,” the researchers wrote. Participants also said cannabis helps with improved ability to eat, improved awareness of hunger cues, reduced guilt related to their eating disorder, less nausea and diminished food-related anxiety.

“Our findings suggest that cannabis is widely used by individuals with an ED or disordered eating and that naturalistic use of cannabis is self-reported as having a positive outcome on ED symptoms.”

That said, “a substantial number described mixed experiences of both improvement and exacerbation of ED symptoms,” the study found.

The research is a follow-up to an earlier paper that some of the same authors published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that marijuana and psychedelics were “the highest rated” drugs in effectively addressing eating disorder symptoms.

“Our top-level analysis indicated that cannabis was commonly used among respondents and was one of the few drugs rated positively for ED symptom improvement. In [anorexia nervosa], [avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder,], and [other specified deeding and eating disorder], this positive rating was superior to all prescription drugs.”

While daily use of marijuana flower specifically was more associated with improved eating disorder scores than intermittent use in the new study, symptom improvement didn’t vary overall based on cannabis product type or cannabinoid composition.

The researchers noted that the self-report and naturalistic nature of the study means that no strong causal conclusions can be drawn, saying that “future clinical trials of cannabis products are warranted in eating disorders.”

They also flagged concerns about cannabis dependence and “other adverse effects” of frequent use that some participants reported.

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Full-spectrum cannabis oil is associated with “favorable perceived quality of life and sleep satisfaction,” according to a new study of medical marijuana patients. Higher concentrations and longer treatments also seemed to produce “higher odds of better outcomes.”

Researchers at State University of Montes Claros conducted a cross-sectional observational survey involving 71 medical patients enrolled in Brazil’s medical marijuana program. Respondents included people who use marijuana for psychological conditions (37 percent), neurological disorders (21 percent) and chronic musculoskeletal pain (11 percent) that can contribute to sleep issues.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology, found that the use of cannabis oil with a 3:1 THC-to-CBD ratio was linked to “positive correlations” between the “psychological domains of quality of life and sleep satisfaction.”

About half of patients reported using marijuana-derived preparations with concentrations of 6 percent, followed by 9 percent (20 percent of patients) and 3 percent (14 percent of patients). The participants were monitored by medical professionals throughout the treatment, with laboratory reviews and assessments of “medication concentration adequacy,” for example.

Notably, the researchers determined that higher cannabis oil concentrations and longer treatment durations were associated with “higher odds of better outcomes.”

“In a real-world clinical context, supervised use of full-spectrum medical Cannabis oil was associated with favorable patient-reported perceptions of quality of life and sleep, consistent with perceived effectiveness,” the study said. “These findings highlight the need for longitudinal studies with pre-treatment baseline assessment.”

To analyze the impact of medical marijuana, patients completed a version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire that asked about “physical, psychological, social relations and environment domains,” as well as an equivalent to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to determine “subjective and objective sleep components” over four weeks before the test was administered.

“A key finding was the relationship between sleep and wellbeing as an integrating axis, evidenced by the positive correlation between psychological domains [of the life quality survey] and sleep satisfaction,” the study authors said. “Consistent with prior evidence, systematic reviews and scoping reviews on cannabinoids and sleep indicate that subjective improvements are frequent but inconsistent, varying substantially according to population, metabolite, dose, ratio of cannabinoids, and route of administration.”

The study findings are “consistent with the hypothesis that cannabinoid interventions may influence wellbeing through direct and indirect pathways (sleep, relaxation, anxiety reduction, and symptom modulation), beyond the primary control of a target symptom,” they wrote.

“In summary, the results suggest that, in supervised clinical practice, patients using full-spectrum THC and CBD rich oil reported favorable perceived quality of life and sleep satisfaction. However, given the cross-sectional design and the absence of pre-treatment assessment, these findings reflect self-reported perceptions rather than evidence of treatment efficacy, and causal interpretation is not warranted. Future longitudinal studies, with pre-treatment assessment, systematic follow-up, and more detailed product characterization, are needed to clarify mechanisms, responding subgroups, and the risk-benefit balance of prolonged use, especially in products with higher THC content.”

The study reaffirms some of the best-studied health impacts of cannabis. That is, it has been shown to hels people sleep and feel physical and psychological symptom relief.

For example, research published earlier this summer found that a cup of tea infused with marijuana before going to bed can lead to a better night’s sleep and an overall improved sense of happiness in life.

“The results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in happiness levels between pre-experimental and post-experimental groups, indicating that cannabis-infused tea had a positive effect on participants’ well-being,” the study, published in the Journal of Health Science and Medical Research, found.

A study of adults who drink cannabis-infused beverages that was published earlier this year, for example, found evidence of a “substitution effect,” with a significant majority of participants reporting reduced alcohol use after incorporating cannabinoid drinks into their routines. It also identified improvements in overall wellbeing and sleep, as well as reductions in pain, stress, depression and anxiety.

A survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that about 2 in 3 Americans who use marijuana say it improves their sleep.

Separate research involving more than 3,500 patients showed that using medical marijuana appears to help people reduce the use of medications, including sleeping aids. They also experience far fewer negative side effects after switching to cannabis from prescription drugs.

A 2025 study on the use of medical marijuana by older patients—age 50 and above—concluded that “cannabis seemed to be a safe and effective treatment” for sleep disorders, pain and other conditions.

About 16 percent of Americans aged 21 and older say they use cannabis as a sleep aid, according to a separate industry-backed survey from last year. That makes marijuana more popular for sleep than prescription sleep aids (12 percent) or alcohol (11 percent), but still not quite as common as using supplements (26 percent) or over-the-counter sleep aids (19 percent).

A pair of 2024 studies found that both older medical marijuana patients as well as people with fibromyalgia reported that cannabis improved their sleep.

A different study that year from the retirement group AARP found that marijuana use by older people in the U.S. has nearly doubled, with better sleep as among the most frequently cited reasons.

Another industry-backed survey last year found that an oral CBD solution effectively treated mild to moderate anxiety, as well as associated depression and poor sleep quality, with no serious adverse events observed.

A study published in 2024, meanwhile, found that using marijuana before sleep has minimal if any effect on a range of performance measures the next day, including simulated driving, cognitive and psychomotor function tasks, subjective effects and mood.

In 2023, a federally funded study found that people with anxiety experienced better quality sleep on days when they used marijuana compared to days when they used alcohol or nothing at all.

Separate studies in 2019, meanwhile, found that fewer people purchased over-the-counter (OTC) sleep medications when they had legal access to cannabis and that many adult-use consumers at the time said they used marijuana for the same reasons medical cannabis patients did: to help with pain and sleep.

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