Seniors & Cannabis

More older Americans than ever before are using cannabis – and it’s not hard to figure out why

The most obvious reason is for its therapeutic benefits like pain relief, sleep issues and mental health concerns. Cannabis, seniors point out, can help manage chronic pain, including arthritis and nerve pain. It can aid in relieving insomnia and promoting better sleep. It can help ease anxiety and improve mood. And it can help manage spasticity, a condition causing muscle stiffness and tightness.

And the numbers indicate that it works.

As the New York Times recently confirmed, “Older people are more apt than younger ones to try cannabis for therapeutic rea sons — to relieve chronic pain, insomnia or mental health issues.”

A national study published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine revealed that the number of those over the age of 65 who said they had used cannabis within the previous year had risen from under 1% in 2005 to 7% in 2023.

According to researchers, those with higher incomes and those seniors suffering from chronic health conditions were most likely to report current cannabis use.

“The study’s findings are consistent with data provided by AARP and others finding that a growing percentage of older adults are turning to cannabis, often for therapeutic purposes,” noted NORML.

Pragmatic Shift

One of the reasons for the trend is purely pragmatic: a shift from recreational to medicinal pot.

“A good proportion of the seniors who are using now-legal marijuana are not doing it to get high but for medicinal purposes — to relieve aches and pains, to induce sleep, and to relieve stress or anxiety,” reported Psychology Today. “As one Baby Boomer said, ‘I’ve been using marijuana for years to help deal with insomnia. It’s nice that it’s legal now, and I can also use it occasionally recreationally just to escape.’”

Another major reason is societal. The rapid adoption of state marijuana laws and commercialization of cannabis “helped drive much of the increase,” according to American news website Axios. “But there also are changing social dynamics that make marijuana more acceptable for dealing with chronic pain, stress and other conditions.”

“It is not surprising that a rising percentage of adults consider cannabis to be a viable option in their later years,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano commented. “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 see medical cannabis as a practical and potentially safer alternative.”

Separate survey data published in 2024 determined that most older adults possess positive perceptions about cannabis, the group added, and several recent studies have shown that marijuana use is typically associated with quality of life improvements in seniors.

University of Michigan researchers who compiled their National Poll on Healthy Aging revealed several months ago that among those age 50 and up, 21% used cannabis in the past year, and 12% partake at least monthly.

More than half of those who used a cannabis product did so frequently, the poll found. Those aged 50 to 64, and those who are in fair or poor physical health or in lower-income households, were more likely to report using cannabis at least monthly.

As for the reasons older adults use cannabis, they found, many cited sleep (68%), help with pain (63%) or mental health (53%), and/or to relax or feel good (81%).

Income also plays a role. AARP, the interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those 50 and older, noted that marijuana use is increasing among older adults who are college educated, higher-income earners and female.

“There have been major shifts in use according to demographic and socio-economic factors,” Joseph Palamar, the study’s senior author and an associate professor of population health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in a statement.

“For example,” the organization explained, “older adults with an nual incomes of at least $75,000 had the lowest prevalence of use in 2021, at 4.2%. But by 2023 they had the highest prevalence compared with lower-income groups, at 9.1%. Also, use among older adults with a college or post-graduate degree was highest in 2023, at 8.3%, compared with groups with some or no college.”

As with anything involving seniors, caution is recommended. Benjamin Han, Associate Professor at the University of California San Diego, told Axios: "As a geriatrician, I see more and more people interested in using cannabis for treating chronic health symptoms. But cannabis can complicate the management of chronic diseases and be potentially harmful if patients are not educated on its use and potential risks."