A new federally funded report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) finds that use of marijuana by U.S. adults 65 and older has increased considerably in recent years amid broader legal access for medical and recreational use.
Cannabis consumption had already been on the rise over the past couple of decades, the research letter says, with reported past-year consumption rising from 1.0 percent in 2005 to 4.2 percent in 2o18. The new findings, which draw on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, show that past-month use has now climbed to 4.8 percent in 2021 and to 7.0 percent in 2023.
The growth in prevalence over the past few years was seen among nearly all demographic subsets, but it was especially strong among people who listed their race as “other,” women, white people, people with college or post-college degrees, those with higher-income, married people and those living in states with legal medical marijuana, the report says.
Data also showed that people with multiple chronic diseases also reported a recent increase in prevalence of use.
Some trends reveal what authors called “shifts in cannabis use by older adults.”
“Adults with the highest incomes initially had the lowest prevalence of cannabis use vs other income levels,” they said, for example, “but by 2023, they had the highest prevalence, which may indicate better access to medical cannabis given its costs.”
The rise in cannabis use among adults 65 and older in legal jurisdictions “highlights the importance of structural educational support for patients and clinicians in those states,” the report notes, pointing to potential complications in treating chronic disease.
It also flags that tobacco and excess alcohol use “continues to be high among older adults who use cannabis. However, these results do not suggest that concurrent use is changing.”
The report concludes by advising that clinicians “consider screening and educating older patients about potential risks of cannabis use.”
The new findings, by researchers at University of California, San Diego and New York University medical schools, were published as a research letter on Monday.
Along with the report, JAMA also published an editor’s note asserting that “existing therapeutic evidence for medical cannabis in older adults has been inconsistent across several conditions, with many studies suggesting possible benefits, while others finding limited benefit.”
It also highlights “apparent” potential harms that marijuana might cause older adults, including “increased risks of cardiovascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal conditions, stroke, sedation, cognitive impairment, falls, motor vehicle injuries, drug-drug interactions, and psychiatric disorders.”
“Older adults require information on methods available for taking cannabis and age-specific dosing guidance,” the editor’s note says. “Health care professionals should recognize that older adults are increasingly using cannabis products and promote open and judgment-free conversations about its use.”
Overall, it says, the new research findings “underscore the need for more high-quality evidence evaluating the benefit to risk ratio of cannabis in older adults as well as the need for clinician support to prevent cannabis-related harm.”
Hellbound and Down 