Pittsburgh, PA: Older adults report improvements in their mental health following the opening of medical cannabis dispensaries in their neighborhoods, according to data published in the journal Economic Letters and recently provided by PubMed Central.
Researchers affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University reviewed the relationship between state-authorized medical cannabis access and self-reported mental health status in a cohort of New Yorkers. One-third of the sample was age 65 or older.
Investigators determined that local access to medical cannabis reduced the number of past-month poor mental health days by nearly 15 percent among older adults. Researchers did not identify significant changes in self-reported mental health status among younger adults.
“These results suggest medical cannabis, where it is geographically available, has positive mental health impacts for older populations,” the study’s authors concluded. “These findings have important implications for aging populations, who often experience chronic pain and could benefit from increased access to alternative pain relief options, such as medical cannabis.”
Prior studies have associated medical cannabis access with declines in the use of mental health-related prescription medications like benzodiazepines.
Full text of the study, “Medical cannabis dispensary availability improved self-reported mental health among older adults in New York,” appears in Economic Letters. Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Societal Impacts of Cannabis Dispensaries/Retailers.’