If you’re craving a sweet treat and a (legal) mellow, the makers of new melatonin-laced desserts say they’ve got just the thing for you, in the form of Lazy Cakes, Kush Cakes and Lulla Pies.

The New York Times reports on the sale of these products and others, sold online, at 7-Eleven, Walgreens and smoke shops. Some claim melatonin has a relaxing effect and use it to alleviate jet lag or simply to help ease the ingestee into sleep. The Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved melatonin as a food additive or confirmed its safety when used as a sleep aid.

Critics of the laced desserts say it might be harder for consumers to realize they’re taking a drug with their cookie or brownie, and that they should consult a physician before taking anything with melatonin in it, as the effectiveness of some drugs like birth control pills and clonazepam can be altered by melatonin.

And of course, doctors warn not to take melatonin if you’re not somewhere you want to be sleeping, say, driving a car or operating a fork lift. Some might not even benefit from melatonin, as the NYT cites Dr. Alfred J. Lewy, a professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University who has studied melatonin, a neurohormone, who estimated that only a third of the population is susceptible to its effects in a supplement.

Full disclosure: I tried melatonin as a sleep aid once and had terrifying nightmares, so even a chocolatey vessel isn’t enough to convince me to try it again. Have you had a good or bad experience with melatonin?

Melatonin Makes a Comeback, Leaving Experts Unrelaxed [New York Times]

Thanks to Howard for the tip!

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