The Cannabinol Family #

Introduction #

Cannabinol is available in three flavors: cannabinol (CBN), acetylated cannabinol (CBN-O), and cannabinphorol (CBN-P). The cannabinol family (without other cannabinoids) is recommmended for sleep.¹² For sedation and analgesia, cannabinol can be used daily (seemingly there is no tolerance). There is little cross-tolerance with THC.

It’s probably safer than hypnotics?³

Flavors #

The subjective experience is sedation, relaxation, pain relief, and reduced thinking. CBN-P offers a tranquil, stable anchor of activation. It grabs and holds the attention. CBN or CBN-O offer a faint fizzy cloud of activation. They do not the grab the attention firmly. CBN-O is more 2-3 times more potent than CBN.

There is a dose threshold phenomenon. Once you reach the threshold dose of maximum intensity, additional substance only extends the duration rather than intensifying effects. The compound’s effects persist into waking only when doses exceed certain thresholds.

Which	Full Intensity	Persists Past Waking
CBN	150mg	0.5-1g
CBN-O	50mg	125-200mg
CBN-P	4mg	8mg

If you expect stubborn insomnia, take double your usual dose 3-4 hours earlier than you would otherwise.

In Blends #

Counterintuitively, when paired with THC, CBN and CBN-O are 1:1 interchangable with indistinguishable phenomenology. The difference in potency only applies when CBN/CBN-O is used without THC.

Intensifying the Effect #

The effect of CBN-P can be attenuated by a big dinner. That’s where kanna can help. Kanna and CBN-P can work synergistically. A good analogy is archery. CBN-P aims and kanna releases the arrow.

Administer kanna 1-3 hours after taking CBN-P. Kanna isn’t as potent as THC or psilocybin, but the big advantage is that it lacks a tolerance effect for daily use.

Dose kanna cautiously! If you take too much, even a relaxing, low mesembrine blend is going to feel uncomfortably stimulating. 🤦

Notes #

Bonn-Miller, M. O., Feldner, M. T., Bynion, T. M., Eglit, G. M. L., Brunstetter, M., Kalaba, M., Zvorsky, I., Peters, E. N., & Hennesy, M. (2024). A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of the safety and effects of CBN with and without CBD on sleep quality. Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 32(3), 277–284. ↩︎
Kolobaric, A., Saleska, J., Hewlings, S. J., Bryant, C., Colwell, C. S., D’Adamo, C. R., Chen, J., & Pauli, E. K. (2024). A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial to Assess the Effectiveness and Safety of Melatonin and Three Formulations of Floraworks Proprietary TruCBN™ for Improving Sleep. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland), 17(8), 977. ↩︎
Kripke, D. F., Langer, R. D., & Kline, L. E. (2012). Hypnotics’ association with mortality or cancer: a matched cohort study. BMJ Open, 2(1), e000850. ↩︎