Indopedia All Things Marijuana
The number of senior citizens who are using cannabis is on the rise according to national and state data, signaling the need for more research on how cannabis affects the aged. Cannabis use among those over 65 has increased by 300% between 2002 and 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Demographic data from Colorado confirms that the percentage of seniors who are registering for medical marijuana cards has also been steadily increasing since 2014, and as of last month, 21% of all medical marijuana users in the state are over 61.
University of Iowa professor Brian Kaskie, along with Dr. Sara Qualls at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, recently won a $97,500 grant to study how older adults use cannabis. The researchers are conducting focus groups throughout Colorado to collect information on older cannabis users. Kaskie said that there is a relatively large amount of data on cannabis use among minors and young adults, but little relating to older adults.
“Older adults are for example more likely to have a prescription medication to begin with. And so how does the use of cannabis intersect with that?” he said. “That becomes one question —…
