Seniors' marijuana use reaches new high
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Older Americans are increasing their use of marijuana to a point where some geriatricians are warning about weed's attendant health risks.
The big picture: U.S. marijuana use among those 65 and older surged nearly 46% from 2021 to 2023, according to new research in JAMA Internal Medicine.
- The rapid adoption of state marijuana laws and commercialization of cannabis helped drive much of the increase. But there also are changing social dynamics that make marijuana more acceptable for dealing with chronic pain, stress and other conditions.
What they found: 7% of adults 65 and older said they'd used cannabis in the past month in 2023, per data from the federally administered National Survey on Drug Use and Health analyzed by researchers at University of California San Diego and NYU.
- That's an increase from 4.8% in 2021, and 5.2% in 2022.
- The increase was more pronounced among women, though the percentage of senior men using the substance was still higher than women in 2023.
- The most pronounced increase was among older adults with annual incomes over $75,000, who went from having the lowest use among income categories in 2021 (4.2%) to the highest in 2023 (9.1%).
The fine print: The data doesn't distinguish between recreational and medical cannabis use, though increased prevalence was associated with several health conditions including hypertension, diabetes and COPD.
- Changes to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2020 prevent direct year-to-year comparisons of the analysis published Monday to earlier periods, the study's authors wrote.
Zoom out: Geriatricians say more research and better patient and clinician education on marijuana use is needed to identify risks, like the way it can interfere with other drugs.
- It can also impair the senses and cause accidents, an especially important consideration since U.S. cannabis has much more THC than it did decades ago.
The findings show that better evidence is needed on the risks and benefits of marijuana use in older adults, three geriatricians wrote in an editor's note published in JAMA alongside the study.
- "As a geriatrician, I see more and more people interested in using cannabis for treating chronic health symptoms. But cannabis can complicate the management of chronic diseases and be potentially harmful if patients are not educated on its use and potential risks," said Benjamin Han, geriatrician and associate professor at the University of California San Diego.
