Why some seniors choose weed over pills

Seniors are one of the fastest growing populations of cannabis users in the United States. While some older adults have been using marijuana for decades, studies suggest that others do turn to the drug for the first time to help them sleep better, relieve pain or treat anxiety – especially when prescription drugs, which often have unwanted side effects, don’t work as intended.

In 2007 only approx 0.4 percent of people aged 65 and older in the United States had used cannabis in the past year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That number rose to almost 3 percent in 2016. This was the case from 2022 more than 8 percent.

Nancy Herring, 76, has used cannabis recreationally her entire adult life. She describes herself as “one of the hippies from the 60s.” But it wasn’t until her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and dementia two years ago that she started wondering about the medicinal use of marijuana.

During his illness, her husband, now 79, had developed insomnia. Soon neither of them slept.

Doctors prescribed pills to help him rest, but “nothing really helped,” she said. At one point he reacted so negatively to a medication that he ended up in the hospital.

Then they tried an indica strain from a dispensary near where they live in Clearwater, Florida. Now, after a gummy and a puff on a pipe, her husband can sleep at night, which is huge,” she said.

Marijuana’s medicinal properties have not been well researched, especially among older users, making it difficult for doctors to advise their patients about the benefits and risks. Cannabis companies have rushed to fill the void, offering older adults tips on doses or formulations and even creating products designed to appeal to them. As more seniors experiment with cannabis, they are evangelizing to each other about its benefits and sharing the challenges they have encountered along the way.

“People are just desperate,” says Dr. Aaron Greenstein, a geriatric psychiatrist in Denver. “They are willing to try anything.”

When his own grandmother became convinced that she was reliving the Holocaust during the later stages of her dementia. Taking a dissolvable strip with a small amount of THC – the psychoactive component in marijuana – ended her flashbacks and made her feel peaceful.

“I’ve had dozens of patients tell me it has cured their various ailments,” said Dr. Haley V. Solomon, a geriatric psychiatrist in San Diego who, along with Dr. Greenstein, has written on the promise and risks of senior cannabis use. “I think it is very important to listen to them, acknowledge that and then do that study it further.”

Older adults should be aware of potential drug interactions, she added, and also consider how cannabis can affect cognition, coordination and balance.

‘Medicine doesn’t work.’

Without a North Star to guide older adults in using cannabis, there is an effort among some seniors to educate each other.

Carminetta Verner, 88, has become the go-to source for cannabis information in her retirement community, the sprawling Leisure World complex in Montgomery County, Maryland, which is home to about 8,000 older adults.

In 2018, she founded a club dedicated to educating residents about medical cannabis. The club’s membership, which has now grown to about 100 people, could be higher if it weren’t for the stigma still associated with the drug, Ms Verner said.

“There are a lot of people here who are suffering and in pain, and medicine doesn’t work for them,” she said.

Damien Cornwell, the owner of a pharmacy in Binghamton, N.Y., that opened in February, said his business has attracted customers who are “looking for help they can’t find at the doctor.” They have conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, anxiety and insomnia, he said.

As more states legalize cannabis, it is now allowed for recreational use more than 20 states and Washington, DCand for medical use 38 states and DC — the number of seniors turning to marijuana will only continue to grow, experts say. One October opinion research found that about two-thirds of adults age 55 and older believe marijuana use should be legal.

Cannabis brands are courting seniors.

Steve Hickerson, who lives in Laguna Woods, California, wants to sleep better.

He used sublingual cannabis drops, but said they didn’t help, so he’s trying gummies, “which seem to work much better.” In the past, he felt that using mind-altering drugs was morally wrong — “I’m a Christian,” he explained — but now, he said, “I’m 79, things are different.” He is willing to research products that have a medical application.

Companies are benefiting from the renewed interest. Earlier this year, Mr. Hickerson was bused to an event hosted by Glass House, one of the nation’s largest cannabis brands, along with about 50 other people from his retirement community who were offered cannabis products at a significant discount.

The Trulieve company also connects with seniors. It has the largest retail footprint for cannabis products in the United States and a 750,000-square-foot cannabis cultivation facility in North Florida. Like Glass House, Trulieve hosts “silver tours” that take seniors to local pharmacies, among other in-person education opportunities.

Kim Rivers, Trulieve’s co-founder and CEO, said their “wisdom customers” — those 55 and older — are growing year over year. In Florida, she added, these adults represent 20 percent of their customer base.

Bristol Extracts, which produces cannabis in New York, has created a brand called Senior Moments — a collection of tinctures, gummies and mints that debuted in March.

“IT’S TIME TO SPICE THINGS UP A LITTLE!” reports the company’s website. “Getting older doesn’t have to be mundane.”

The brand’s edibles also contain ingredients like ginkgo biloba, which are advertised as supporting “memory and mood.” The line will soon include body balms and gummies that act as both sleep aids and aphrodisiacs, says Eric Blazak, the company’s founder and CEO.

What should older people know about cannabis?

Because cannabis is not federally legal, doctors don’t have enough research to guide them for which conditions it is useful, who is at greater risk for potential harm, how to dose it properly or which strains to recommend, said Dr. . Benjamin. Han, an addiction medicine specialist at the University of California, San Diego, and one of the few geriatricians in the United States who studies older adults and substance use.

“What makes it even more complicated is that cannabis is a very complex plant,” he added, and there are more than 100 cannabinoids – the biologically active components in the cannabis plant – as well as products with varying ratios of THC to cannabidiol, or CBD. .

Start low and slow. If a patient wants to try cannabis products containing THC, Dr. Han recommends starting with a low dose (usually 1 milligram to 2.5 milligrams) and then “giving it a week” before deciding to increase the dose.

Ingesting too many edibles can cause dizziness, confusion, changes in heart rate and blood pressure, panic attacks, anxiety, nausea and vomiting, and even land some people in the emergency room.

There is also a potential for it cannabinoid hyperemesis syndromea condition that causes repeated vomiting in heavy marijuana users.

A studyled by Dr. Han, found that emergency room visits related to cannabis use among older adults increased by more than 1,800 percent in California – from 366 in 2005 to 12,167 in 2019.

Older users can rely on their previous experiences with the drug, but “today’s cannabis is very different,” he said. “It’s stronger. And then there are the physiological changes you experience as you get older, which make you more sensitive than you would have been forty years ago.”

Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor. “It’s important to talk to a doctor or healthcare provider, especially if you’re using it for medical reasons to treat chronic diseases or chronic symptoms,” said Dr. Han.

Cannabis can interact with certain medications, such as warfarin, a drug used to treat blood clots. And seniors who take sedative-hypnotics like Ambien or benzodiazepines like Xanax — or who drink alcohol — should consider avoiding cannabis, said Dr. Solomon, because when combined with those medications, it can cause dizziness and confusion and make seniors more susceptible to falls and injuries.

And smoking cannabis can cause respiratory symptoms in people with chronic lung disease, added Dr. Han to it.

Educate yourself. Ms. Verner recommended going to licensed pharmacies that sell products that have been approved tested by a third party. Also familiarize yourself with government regulations, she said.

“You just have to educate yourself, don’t be afraid of things – learn it yourself,” Ms Verner said. “You have to know what can work for you – and you go from there.”

Through trial and error, she discovered that cannabinol, or CBN, which is not psychoactive, helped the most with her insomnia.

Now she takes fewer pills: only one for her thyroid levels and one to lower her blood pressure.

Many older adults “end up with all these bottles of medication,” she said. “And I don’t think that’s necessary.”