Study finds older adults using cannabis to treat common health conditions

Older adults use cannabis primarily for medical purposes to treat a variety of common health conditions, including pain, sleep disturbances and psychiatric conditions like anxiety and depression, reported researchers of University of California (UC) San Diego School of Medicine.
The study was published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
With growing interest in its potential health benefits and new legislation favoring legalization in more states, cannabis use is becoming more common among older adults.
The study surveyed 568 patients, of which, 15 per cent had used cannabis within the past three years, with half of the users reporting using it regularly and mostly for medical purposes.
“Pain, insomnia and anxiety were the most common reasons for cannabis use and for the most part, patients reported that cannabis was helping to address these issues, especially with insomnia and pain,” said Christopher Kaufmann, PhD, co-first author of the study and assistant professor in the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego.
Patients surveyed in the study were seen at the Medicine for Seniors Clinic at UC San Diego Health over a period of 10 weeks.
The researchers also found that 61 per cent of the patients who used cannabis had initiated use after age 60.
“Surprisingly, we found that nearly three-fifths of cannabis users reported using cannabis for the first time as older adults. These individuals were a unique group compared to those who used cannabis in the past,” said Kevin Yang, co-first author and third-year medical student at UC San Diego.
“New users were more likely to use cannabis for medical reasons than for recreation. The route of cannabis use also differed with new users more likely to use it topically as a lotion rather than by smoking or ingesting as edibles. Also, they were more likely to inform their doctor about their cannabis use, which reflects that cannabis use is no longer as stigmatized as it was previously,” Yang added. (ANI)