After analyzing available survey data, researchers at the University of Michigan said that 12.1% of adults in the United States aged 50-80 reported using cannabis in the past year. 

“Among those who reported cannabis use, 34.2% reported using cannabis products 4 or more days per week,” the researchers said.

The researchers analyzed data extracted from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, which they described as “a nationally cross-sectional survey that asked U.S. adults ages 50-80 in January 2021 about their cannabis use in the past year.”

(The poll is sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan.)

The researchers noted that “multivariable logistic regression was used to identify demographic and health characteristics associated with cannabis use” for their analysis.

“More than one in 10 U.S. adults aged 50-80 used cannabis in the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many used cannabis frequently. As access to and use of cannabis continue to increase nationally, clinicians and policymakers should monitor and address the potential risks among older adults,” the researchers wrote in their conclusion.

The researchers noted that “cannabis use was less likely among people who identified as Hispanic ethnicity or as ‘other’ races compared with non-Hispanic white respondents.”

Cannabis has proven useful to many older individuals, who have turned to pot to mitigate chronic pain and other ailments that accompany aging. 

“It is not surprising that a rising percentage of adults consider cannabis to be a viable option in their later years. Many older adults struggle with pain, anxiety, restless sleep, and other conditions for which cannabis products often mitigate. Many older adults are also well aware of the litany of serious adverse side-effects associated with available prescription drugs, like opioids or sleep aids, and they perceive medical cannabis to be a practical and potentially safer alternative,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in response to the University of Michigan survey.

Other pieces of survey data have illustrated the same trend. 

Earlier this year, The Hill reported on a survey showing that the “share of over-65 Americans who have used marijuana nearly tripled in a decade, from 11 percent in 2009 to 32 percent in 2019,” and that “more than half of the 60-64 demographic reported cannabis use, another sharp increase.”

“Cannabis consumption among older adults reached 35 percent in 2021. But the pandemic affected the survey methodology, researchers said, possibly skewing the results,” The Hill reported. “The graying of cannabis culture signals broadening social acceptance of marijuana, which is now available for recreational use in 23 states. It is also a generational story about the aging baby boomers, a generation that grew up in an era of psychotropic experimentation.  Cannabis use, for many older Americans, is less about getting high and more about getting sleep. And pain relief. And calm.”

Another way to put it: more Americans –– young, old and middle aged –– are using cannabis than any time before, a natural consequence of the wave of legalization that has swept over the country in the last decade.

Gallup confirmed as much earlier this year. In August, the venerable pollster released findings showing that “half of Americans (50%) say they have tried marijuana at some time, a new high point for this behavior that has been inching up over the past quarter century.”

“While essentially unchanged from the 49% and 48% readings in 2021 and 2022, respectively, the new figure is statistically higher than the 45% in 2017 and 2019 who said they had tried marijuana,” Gallup reported. 

“In answer to a separate question intended to measure current behavior, about one in six Americans (17%) say they ‘smoke marijuana.’ This is also a new high in Gallup’s trend since 2003, albeit similar to the 16% recorded a year ago. These findings are from Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits survey, conducted July 3-27. The proportion of Americans who say they smoke marijuana has more than doubled since 2013, when Gallup first asked the question. That year, 7% said they did. Gallup’s much longer trend on ever having tried marijuana shows that experimentation increased sharply in the first decade after the initial measure. Between 1969 and 1977, it jumped 20 percentage points, from 4% to 24%. It rose another nine points, to 33%, by 1985, but thereafter stalled at under 40% until 2015, when it ticked up to 44%. It remained at about that level through 2019 but then rose to 49% in 2021, roughly where it is today. Over that same period, Gallup recorded a significant increase in the U.S. public’s support for legalization of marijuana, which has grown from 12% in 1969 to 68% today.”

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Due to an uptick of incidents involving seniors consuming too much cannabis, doctors are warning older citizens about how to consume the plant correctly. Eating edibles in particular, without the proper guidance, is notorious for causing panic, though the risks are rarely physical.

KOMO News in Seattle reports that doctors want to inform seniors about ways to avoid panic and an unnecessary emergency room visit. This can be solved with simple education about the differences between edibles, topicals, and smokable products and how they affect us differently.

It’s the responsibility of any consumer to properly research before eating an edible, or consuming a high-THC product.

“There are a number of different situations where you could end up in the emergency department, because of a combination of cannabis and a medication or cannabis and another product,” Dr. Lianne Hirano of the Geriatrics department at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, told KOMO News. 

“If you are a first time user, or if you are somebody who is used to using products from the 60s and 70s, today’s products are way more potent. Your body and your metabolism might not be used to that level of potency,” she said, “That can be quite scary.”

Wall Street Journal reports that seniors are often susceptible to consuming too much cannabis if they’re used to lighter doses.

There are a number of reasons seniors are trying out cannabis for medical purposes. Some seniors turn to cannabis to help with sleeping. Researchers found that overall, cannabis helped seniors get, on average, an extra 30 minutes of sleep. Study participants used smartphones and actigraphy watches to log their sleep patterns

Some seniors believe cannabis can help when battling aging itself. Seniors are turning to cannabis to treat common symptoms of aging, with nearly 80% of those who reported using cannabis saying they did so for medicinal reasons, according to a study from researchers at the University of California San Diego. Results of the study, “Cannabis: An emerging treatment for common symptoms in older adults,” were published on Oct. 7, 2020 in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.

Today’s Weed is ‘A Different Animal’

Hashtag Cannabis Marketing Director Christine Bryant described today’s more potent weed as “a different animal.”

“The difference is when using a topical, you’re not going to feel the intoxicating effects of THC. But you will feel some of the anti-inflammatory effects that THC can provide for the skin barrier. That’s the difference with an oral (product), like a gummy or a chocolate, something like that. Is this going to affect your whole system? You’re going to process it through your liver, you’re going to feel whole body effects,” she said.

In the event that you consume too much THC, sniffing black peppercorns is an old hack that can reduce some, but not all, of the effect.

Studies show both improvements and setbacks due to senior cannabis use. Last January, researchers from the University of California San Diego published a study in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society, suggesting that emergency room visits involving people 65 and older who use cannabis have increased 1,804% in the past 15 years.

Another study published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society also reported an uptick in seniors who are consuming cannabis. In a survey of nearly 600 adults in the age range found that 15% reported using marijuana products in the last three years.

Anyone getting into cannabis should be aware of the proper titration in order to prevent panicked calls to the emergency room.

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