Boulder, CO: Survey data published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) finds that older adults frequently turn to cannabis products because they believe traditional pharmaceuticals pose too many side effects and negatively impact their quality of life.
Researchers affiliated with the University of Utah and the University of Colorado at Boulder interviewed 169 adults ages 60 and older who self-identified as first-time cannabis consumers.
Respondents were often motivated to try cannabis because they were seeking non-traditional options to manage various age-related symptoms, including pain and sleep disturbances. Many respondents acknowledged avoiding pharmaceuticals because they found them to be ineffective or because they possessed significant adverse side effects.
“Many participants described a reluctance in using traditional pharmaceutical treatments,” the study’s authors concluded. “Notably, they had concerns about adverse effects, long-term health risks, or dependency associated with pharmaceutical medications and viewed cannabis as a safer alternative. Participants also reported that they had exhausted all pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic options (e.g., therapy, acupuncture, or massage) for symptom management so they desired to try cannabis as a last resort. … [These] findings highlight the need for stronger clinical evidence, patient-centered guidance, and accessible education to help older adults confidently select edible cannabis products to address pain, sleep, or mental health concerns.”
Survey data compiled by AARP reports that roughly 1 in 5 older adults acknowledges having consumed cannabis products in the past year.
Full text of the study, “Edible cannabis and pain, sleep, and mental health management in older adults,” appears in JAMA Network Open. Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Cannabis Use by Older Adult Populations.’