A writer for Mashable describes how the cannabis compound CBN can be used as a sleep aid.

People in the cannabis industry have been whispering about CBN for years. And scientific research on it, although limited and rarely related to sleep, goes back to the 1970s. The compound comes from aging THC. Over time, exposure to light and oxygen will convert THC into CBN. You can also use chemical processes to turn CBD, hemp’s golden goose, into CBN, but it’s a more complicated process. 

Dr. Ethan Russo, a neurologist who popularized the entourage effect, the idea that various parts of the cannabis plant work synergistically together to cause certain effects, explains it like this: Let’s say someone has cannabis that’s been sitting in a drawer for three years and decides to smoke it. If they’re looking to get high, they’re going to be disappointed with the outcome.

“So the person may feel sleepy or sad, but they’re not going to be high, and they’re not going to be cleaning the garage after doing this,” said Dr. Russo, who once advised the first company to get a CBD drug for epilepsy approved by the FDA, but has since founded a cannabis research firm called Credo Science.

Get the full story at Mashable.com.