Mice given a sleep-gummy cannabinoid for three days showed withdrawal when it stopped

Mice that received cannabinol twice a day for three consecutive days became less responsive to the compound, and when it was withdrawn they showed head twitching and paw fluttering. Cannabinol, known as CBN, is a cannabis-derived compound sold in sleep gummies, tinctures and capsules. The experiments were run by a University of Connecticut team, and the results were published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

The day in tech, in one email: TLDR is the daily newsletter with links and TLDRs of the most interesting stories in startups, tech and programming.

Get TLDR →

We may earn a commission if you sign up.

The finding is confined to mice. The researchers say plainly that the work does not establish that CBN causes dependence or withdrawal in people, and the doses people take from supplements are unknown. What the study offers is an early warning about a product category that has moved faster than the research on it.

Three days of cannabinol, then nothing

According to the University of Connecticut release carried by ScienceDaily on Oct. 25, mice received CBN twice a day for three consecutive days. As treatment continued, the animals became less responsive to the compound, which the release describes as tolerance. When CBN was withdrawn, the mice displayed physical symptoms resembling withdrawal, including head twitching and paw fluttering, movements the release likens to the shaking people can experience during drug withdrawal.

The paper is titled “Tolerance, physical dependence, and Δ9-THC-like interoceptive effects of cannabinol in mice” and appears in volume 288 of the journal, under DOI 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2026.113341. Olivia Vanegas is lead author, working with J.A. Marusich, J. Maturano, D. Sarlah and Steven Kinsey. The release does not report the milligram-per-kilogram dose given to the animals.

One detail deserves care. A publication listing of the paper’s abstract at RTI describes mice dosed twice daily for five days, with withdrawal signs, head twitches and paw tremors, assessed on day six after a receptor-blocking drug called rimonabant was given. The release describes three days and withdrawal when CBN was stopped. The two accounts may describe different parts of the work, and the full paper is the place to settle the schedule.

A sleep ingredient sold ahead of the evidence

The release opens by noting that CBN has become a popular ingredient in sleep supplements, often promoted as a natural, gentle way to relax and get a better night’s rest. It then says the new research suggests the compound may carry risks consumers should know about. Kinsey, a professor in the university’s School of Nursing, put the market’s reach bluntly: “CBN is everywhere right now.”

Vanegas was more pointed about the way these products are sold. “The marketing of minor cannabinoids is pretty wild right now,” she said. Kinsey added that the findings suggest repeated use may carry risks that buyers should be aware of, and the release closes on a buyer-beware warning aimed at consumers. A secondary summary reports the same three-day schedule and the same head twitching and paw fluttering.

Kinsey directs the university’s Center for Advancement in Managing Pain, and his laboratory uses animal models to study the opioid and endocannabinoid systems and their role in pain, inflammation, addiction and the stress response. Its own primer on cannabinoids notes that the physiological effects of nearly 100 plant cannabinoids beyond THC are largely unknown, which frames why a single ingredient can reach shelves before its repeated-use effects are charted.

Other effects the team measured in mice

The release reports that mice trained to recognize THC responded to CBN in a similar way, suggesting the two compounds overlap in how the animals perceive them. The paper’s title refers to these THC-like interoceptive effects. The RTI abstract adds that CBN reduced THC’s psychoactive effects in the animals, a result that points to a more tangled relationship between the two compounds than the sleep-aid marketing implies.

CBN also reduced inflammation in the mice, including at lower doses that were not psychoactive, the release says. That result cuts the other way, and the authors treat the therapeutic potential as unclear. In a simulated bacterial challenge, however, CBN weakened the animals’ ability to defend against infection, a finding the release lists among the reasons for caution.

Where the mouse results stop

The release states that human effects, especially with frequent use, higher doses or long-term use, remain unknown. Researchers also do not yet know how CBN affects sleep quality or what doses would be appropriate. The release points out that several earlier sleep medications were later found to carry serious dependence risks, and uses that history as a reason to look closely at a compound sold for the same purpose.

For shoppers, the study supplies no threshold at which a gummy becomes a problem, and it does not show that a person who stops taking CBN would experience anything like the mouse behavior. The authors’ closing message is narrower: a widely marketed ingredient showed tolerance and withdrawal-like signs in animals within days, and no human data yet exist to say whether the same pattern holds.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

The day in tech, in one email: Get TLDR →

We may earn a commission if you sign up.