Experts recruit sleepers with insomnia for cannabis trial

About one in three Australian adults struggle to get a good night's sleep and sometimes symptoms persist for months.

Sleep experts are recruiting hundreds of sufferers across the country to see whether medicinal cannabis as a treatment lives up to the hype.

Mathew Gray is one of the first group of volunteers to trial the cannabis capsules to combat his insomnia.

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"If I wake up during the night, which is usually pretty frequent, three times or four times, it's difficult to fall back asleep," Gray said.

The 24-year-old has already tried conventional treatments.

"I did find the medications I had been prescribed did help but I would wake up with side-effects or it would make me drowsy," he said.

The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research is recruiting 200 people with insomnia to study the use of medicinal cannabis.

Professor Ron Grunstein said the treatment "is actually used in insomnia a lot without any clear evidence for its value".

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The trial capsules contain cannabidiol, otherwise known as CBD.

It does not produce any intoxicating effects and has previously been observed in smaller trials to improve sleep.

Researchers will use objective measures such a wrist watch to record sleep and the CBD will be compared to a placebo.

Companies wishing to supply their product over the counter in pharmacies need the evidence.

"Our trial is going to produce the highest level of evidence, one way or another," Grunstein said.

Those in the trial can participate remotely, screening is done online and volunteers are sent all they need for the study