Despite its reputation as something of a downer — the slacker's drug, if you will — marijuana can really screw with your sleep patterns and keep you up at night. Maybe.

Sort of sounds like that other drug, cocaine. But California researchers say it could be the chronic that's preventing you from catching some decent Zs:

Academics at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Center for Health Care Evaluation in Palo Alto say “sustained cannabis use,” e.g., daily toking, correlates to “poorer perceived sleep quality.”

The study is scheduled to be published in a fall edition of the journal Addictive Behaviors.

The researchers looked at 102 pot-smoking military veterans who are regular cannabis users who wanted to quit.

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They concluded:

… Lower perceived sleep quality was associated with higher mean cannabis use.

But … did the weed cause the sleep problems, or was it being used to regulate already existing issues with insomnia? The researchers weren't entirely sure.

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