Patient Education ►
Cannabis and Senior Citizens
by Peter Kershaw , contributing writer
Senior citizens ( 65 and up ) suffer more physical and emotional health ailments than other age groups . Some of the most common conditions seniors suffer from include :
● Chronic pain
● Stiff and painful joints ( including arthritis )
● Heart disease
● Cancer
● Respiratory diseases
● Alzheimer ’ s and dementia
● Chronic depression
● Anxiety
● Insomnia
● Diabetes
This publication has previously featured monthly articles from this author addressing the benefits cannabis offers for these and many other maladies . Past issues found at www . TheEvolutionMag . com . Seniors benefit from cannabis at least as much as the younger folks , perhaps — even more so .
Medical cannabis dispensaries around the country have noticed a trend — an uptick in the number of elderly clients . National studies and surveys show that one of the fastest growing segments of cannabis users is the elderly . Dispensary owners should bear this trend in mind lest they fail to cater to the special needs of this important growing market segment .
This trend began to be tracked in 2006 . With increasing regularity , many , including the elderly , were hearing about the impressive medicinal benefits cannabis offers . An additional contributing factor of the time was ( and still is to some extent ) “ the prescription opioid crisis .” Many elderly folks , through no fault of their own , had become hooked on doctor-prescribed opioids . Many were also suffering unpleasant if not dangerous side effects ( e . g ., chronic constipation , etc .). Soon enough , they started looking for safer and more effective options for pain management . For many seniors , cannabis fits their needs well .
18 September 2022
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health , from 2006-2013 , cannabis use in the U . S . rose by some 250 % for those over 65 . 1 One can reasonably assume it wasn ’ t because seniors in mass suddenly decided , “ Hey , now that I ’ m retired , I think I ’ ll become a stoner .”
More recently , a study conducted in 2020 by the University of California San Diego School of Medicine ( published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society ) found that “… older adults use cannabis primarily for medical purposes to treat a variety of common health conditions , including pain , sleep disturbances and psychiatric conditions like anxiety and depression … nearly threefifths of [ senior ] cannabis users reported using cannabis for the first time as older adults .” 2 Of those elderly who weren ’ t first-timers to cannabis , some revealed they ’ d used cannabis recreationally in the 60s and 70s but grew out of it and hadn ’ t touched it for decades , only to pick it up again once they recognized its medicinal benefits .
In yet another study , Trends in Cannabis Use Among Older Adults in the United States , 2015-2018 , the percentage of increasing use is lower than in other studies . There appears to be an obvious explanation for this : “ Cannabis use was ascertained by asking about marijuana , hashish , pot , grass , and hash oil use either smoked or ingested .” 3 What wasn ’ t accounted for in the study are topical cannabis products , popular with seniors in treating arthritis and other chronic pain issues .
None of these studies bundled in or even included CBD products in a separate category . Had they included CBD , the figures would have trended significantly higher since the CBD market has seen even greater growth than medical cannabis .
Factoring the De-Stigmatization of Cannabis
Those of us who volunteered to collect signatures for Amendment 2 often remarked among ourselves about the tremendous enthusiasm and support we received from seniors . For decades , cannabis was highly stigmatized , all the more so by the elderly . But that ’ s in the past , progressively coming to an end . In our own time , we ’ re seeing more and more seniors expressing their cynicism toward Big Pharma while , at the same time , embracing medical cannabis . “ New [ elderly ] users were more likely to use cannabis for medical reasons than for recreation … Also , they were more likely to inform their doctor about their cannabis use , which reflects that cannabis use is no longer as stigmatized as it was previously .” 4
Drug Interactions
Statistically , elderly folks use more prescription drugs than younger folks . This stands to reason since they suffer from more physical ( and emotional ) ailments . When a senior is considered “ frail ,” it ’ s much more important to exercise due diligence in their use of cannabis . But the same , and even more so , should be said where it concerns pharmaceutical drugs that , in most cases , have far greater risks than cannabis .