By Rachel Nania, AARP, September 2024
AARP-supported research shows many people 50-plus try THC to aid health. Older adults are increasingly turning to cannabis to alleviate pain, get help with sleep, improve mental health or cope with other medical conditions, new research finds.
One in 5 people (21 percent) ages 50-plus said they used some form of cannabis — be it food, drink, flower or another type— at least once in the last year, a report from the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging found. That’s up from 1 in 8 (12 percent) in 2021. In 2015 and 2016, roughly 3 percent of adults 65 and older used cannabis, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The increasing share isn’t that surprising, says Erin E. Bonar, a University of Michigan addiction psychologist who worked with the poll team on the latest report. Recreational use of cannabis is legal in 24 states plus the District of Columbia, and an additional 14 states allow it for medical use. But Bonar says seeing the number rise does cause some concern, especially for older adults who are at higher risk for some of the drug’s side effects.
“We see more people using cannabis as it’s legalized, and we don’t have enough information yet to know: Are there safe ways of using? Are there recommended guidelines?” says Bonar, a professor in the department of psychiatry at Michigan Medicine. “So seeing the number creep up like that in the absence of really good scientific data to help guide people’s decisions with this, that’s a little bit concerning.”
The research, supported by AARP, focused only on cannabis products that contain THC, the psychoactive compound responsible for generating that “high” feeling. CBD products, which have also grown in popularity among older adults, are different, as they contain only very small amounts of THC.
Why older adults use cannabis
Adults 50 and older are turning to cannabis to:
Relax (81 percent)
Get help with sleep (68 percent)
Enjoy the effects / feel good (64 percent)
Get help with pain relief (63 percent)
Get help for mental health or mood (53 percent)
Treat a medical condition (40 percent)
Make a social gathering more fun/connect with others (31 percent)
Celebrate (26 percent)
Experiment (18 percent)
Source: National Poll on Healthy Aging
Older adults are using cannabis to help with health issues
Sixty-eight percent of poll respondents who used cannabis products did so for help with sleep, the researchers found. Many also cited pain relief (63 percent), mental health and mood (53 percent) and relaxation (81 percent) as reasons for using cannabis.
But while many older adults are turning to cannabis to help with health issues, 44 percent of people who use cannabis regularly have not discussed their use with a health care provider, which health experts say is key.
“Even if your doctor, nurse practitioner or pharmacist doesn’t ask if you’re using cannabis products, it’s important to offer this information, no matter whether you’re using it to address a physical or mental health concern or simply for pleasure,” Jeffrey Kullgren, M.D., a primary care physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and director of the National Poll on Healthy Aging, said in a news release.
Many prescription medications, including some that are common among older adults, “can interact with cannabis and cause unexpected or unwanted effects,” Kullgren said. So can alcohol and over-the-counter drugs.
“We also know that cannabis affects the parts of your brain that are responsible for coordination and reacting to things quickly,” Bonar says. So it could “potentially make it harder to catch yourself if you’re about to fall, which we know is a concern for older adults.” A small study published in 2021 in the journal Brain Sciences found that older adults who used cannabis had a higher fall risk, worse balance and slower gait speed than people who didn’t use cannabis.
Potency of products increases risks
The poll found that 21 percent of older adults surveyed weren’t aware that many cannabis products available today are much stronger than they were in the 1990s and before, further compounding concerns over medication interactions and falls.
More potent products also increase the risk of dependency or an addiction, Bonar says. “As we’re seeing THC levels climb in the products that are available, people are developing cannabis use disorder at a quicker rate,” she says. More than a quarter of older adults polled weren’t aware that people can become addicted to cannabis.
The strength of today’s cannabis can also lead to increased risks while driving, the poll’s authors write. Still, 20 percent of older adults who used cannabis in the past year said they drove within two hours of using the drug at least once.
“There is no safe recommended level of cannabis for driving,” Bonar cautions. What’s more, “cannabis stays in your system for a long time,” she says, so even if a person has not used the drug in days or weeks, they may test positive for it if tested during a driving violation.
Talking to your doctor is key
Bonar says health care providers “need to know what’s going on with our body — what we are putting into it that could be affecting different medications we have, or different health conditions that we have, or causing different symptoms we have.”
For example, she says, someone may be having lung or respiratory problems and cannabis could be contributing to or worsening it. “So having all the information about what we’re putting in our bodies helps our physicians and our health care providers make better decisions about health care.”
If you’re dealing with a health issue that you think cannabis can quell, bring your questions and concerns to your doctor, “because [you] can get guidance for the best evidence-based ways to address these issues,” Bonar says. Ask about potential side effects and risks associated with using cannabis. And inquire about other possible solutions that may bring relief.
“There are only a few conditions where we have good evidence of a medical benefit from cannabis, though this could change with time,” Kullgren said.
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