Half of all adults suffer from insomnia, meaning they have difficulty falling or staying asleep. Leaf Science outlines five ways cannabis can affect sleep, from falling asleep more quickly, to staying asleep longer, to better breathing (good news for apnea sufferers).

Modern scientists, while a bit late to the game, are jumping aboard the cannabis sleep train, having discovered that the body’s endocannabinoid system has a role in managing sleep. Low THC and CBD appear to regulate the endocannabinoid system, thereby decreasing the time it can take to fall asleep.

This video explains some of the reasons cannabis is increasingly being seen as an alternative to sleeping pills (which often result in daytime drowsiness, dizziness, memory problems and more — not to mention that they were linked to an increased mortality rate of 450% over a 4-year period). As for mixing sleeping pills (the most widely prescribed medication in the U.S.) and alcohol? That’s a potential nightmare as well, and not just because researchers at the University of Amsterdam recently named alcohol the most dangerous drug in the world.

While an occasional bad night’s sleep is probably no big deal, chronic sleeplessness most certainly is. Check out Live Science, which lists some of the nightmarish effects of sleep deprivation. Another solution that may be able to assist is our Tranquili a cannabis tea for sleep.