Impact of Marijuana on Sleep, Resting Heart Rate & HRV

We examine how often WHOOP members report using marijuana, when it’s most popular, which age and gender demographics log it the most, plus the effects it has on their physiological metrics.

With 4/20 being a big day for marijuana use, we break down what we see in the data from our members when they log it via the WHOOP Journal.  

Who Tracks Using Marijuana & How Often?

Our analysis looked at the anonymous data WHOOP members who report using marijuana on a regular basis (at least 10 journal entries in the past 90 days). On average, 10.8% of male WHOOP members log marijuana use, and 9% of female members. Those between the ages of 30 and 39 are most likely to track it (11.7%), with 12.7% of males in that age group doing so.

Male WHOOP members are more likely to log marijuana use than females, and it is most common among the 30-39 age bracket.

Of our members who do track marijuana use, they are 43% likely to answer “yes” in the journal on any given day (45% for men, 38% for women). The age group who does it most regularly is 20-29 year olds at 43.8%, and from there the frequency decreases with age.  

When is Marijuana Used Most?

April is the most popular month for marijuana use, with WHOOP members who track it logging it on 45% of all days. On the other hand, March is the least popular month at just under 42%. Saturday is by far the most common day of the week, with the average “yes” response being 47.6%. Monday is the day with the lowest percentage of “yes” responses, slightly below 40%.

Saturday is the most popular day of the week for reported marijuana use, and Monday is the least.

How Marijuana Affects Sleep, Resting Heart Rate & HRV

Although WHOOP members sleep slightly more on average when they log using marijuana (0.4 minutes per night), we found the quality of their sleep decreases by a small amount. The average percentage of time spent in light sleep rises from 54% to 55%, which means the percentage of time in restorative sleep (REM and slow wave sleep) falls from 46% to 45%. Sleep efficiency and sleep consistency each drop by 1 percentage point as well.

We found marijuana use to have a very slight negative impact on sleep, resting heart rate & HRV, but no meaningful affect on RECOVERY.

Overall, we saw no significant impact to WHOOP members’ next-day recovery after logging marijuana use. However, we did find minor negative changes to both resting heart rate (RHR) and heart rate variability (HRV). On average, RHR increases by 1 beat per minute, while HRV dips by 2.8 milliseconds.  

Learn How Various Behaviors Impact Your WHOOP Metrics

The WHOOP Journal offers a wide variety of options for choices and behaviors to track, for everything from feeling stressed, to hydrating properly, to wearing a sleep mask to bed. You can then see how these behaviors affect your daily recovery and other physiological metrics WHOOP tracks with in-app insights and in your Monthly Performance Assessments.