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By Sandee LaMotte
(CNN)The
sweet scent of baking cookies wafting from grandma's house may be mixed
with a more pungent aroma these days. The smell of marijuana.
The
numbers of American seniors over age 65 who now smoke marijuana or use
edibles increased two-fold between 2015 and 2018, according to research
published Monday in JAMA.
California septuagenarian
Carol Collin is one of them. About two years ago she began eating a
marijuana "gummy" each night before bed to help with sleep.
"I
am an absolute chronic insomniac. I have been ever since I was a little
tiny child -- it just drives me crazy," Collin said. "I take this
little cube and it just makes me drowsy so I can sleep and doesn't leave
me groggy in the morning."
For
pain relief, Collin uses a topical cream that contains both THC -- the
compound in the marijuana plant that makes you high -- and CBD, the the
compound in the plant used in medicinal marijuana.
Topical
creams and pills with THC are only available in states which have
legalized weed for recreational use. California did so in January 2018,
giving Collin access to options she would not have considered otherwise.
CBD products are subject to other state laws; despite their
availability online, the legality and the enforcement of CBD laws
varies.
"I'm doing this to sleep and provide pain relief and I find it works," she said. "I wouldn't have done it if it was illegal."
'Nice, straight line up'
"I find it fascinating that people who would never touch an illegal drug are
now trying to get it, even if it's just for medical purposes," said
study co-author Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population
health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
"What
I'm seeing in my clinic are a lot of older adults who are very curious
about cannabis to treat this or that chronic disease and symptoms," said
Dr. Benjamin Han, an assistant professor of geriatric medicine and
palliative care at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, another co-author of
the paper.
Over the last decade, Palamar and Han
have published several papers estimating marijuana use by American
seniors. To do so they analyze data from the National Survey on Drug Use
and Health, a nationally representative survey of 15,000 people in the
US who do not live in an institution, such as a nursing home.
The
questions asked about "marijuana, hashish, pot, grass, and hash oil use
either smoked or ingested." It did not ask about use of THC or CBD
topicals or pills.
In 2006, only
0.4% of seniors over 65 reported using marijuana products in the past
year, they said. The newly published study found that by 2015, the
number had doubled to 2.4%. By 2018, it had doubled again, with 4.2% of
seniors over 65 using weed.
"Marijuana use among seniors is not bouncing up and down like with other drugs," Palamar said. "It's a straight line up."
Use
was highest among women, racial or ethnic minorities, and seniors who
were married, college educated, had mental health issues and had incomes
of $20,000 to $49,000 and $75,000 or higher.
"I was curious to see if it was people
who are more sick, with say, multiple chronic conditions, trying
cannabis, or is it the healthier people, perhaps with only one health
condition," Han said. "And it appears it's the healthier older people
who are trying cannabis more."
Worrisome findings
A
startling rise in use was found in seniors over 65 with diabetes -- a
180% relative increase over the study period. Unlike cancer or
Parkinson's, diabetes is not a disease for which marijuana would
typically be considered, Han said.
"I'm not sure why older people with diabetes are increasingly using cannabis," he said.
One
of the most disturbing findings, he said, was an increase in cannabis
use among older adults who also use alcohol. In 2015, only 2.9% of
seniors reported both alcohol and cannabis use (although the data cannot
say if they use simultaneously). By 2018 it had jumped to 6.3%.
"As a geriatrician, I
worry about any kind of prescribed medicine or substance use -- anything
that has any kind of psychoactive effects," Han said. "I worry about
things like dizziness, falls. I worry how it may interact with certain
medical conditions."
For example, small studies have shown "cannabis may be harmful for people who recently had heart attacks," he said.
Overall, even use of cannabis by itself is worrisome, Han added.
"There's
a very limited evidence base for what the benefits of cannabis are, who
it benefits the most, what the risks are, and who it may harm the
most," Han said.
Not to mention a
very real concern about marijuana interacting with other medications,
said pharmacist Tracy Mahvan, an associate professor of pharmacy
practice at the University of Wyoming, who was not involved in the
study.
One possible interaction -- among many
-- is with the blood thinner warfarin, which has been frequently used in
the elderly population, she said.
"Marijuana
may increase the serum concentrations of warfarin and increase the risk
for bleeds," Mahvan said, adding that the use of marijuana could also
affect a senior's ability to open and manage their medications.
An
additional concern for many baby boomers who tried weed in the 1960s
and '70s, Palamar said, is the change in the nature of marijuana over
the years.
"Weed has been getting
stronger over the past few decades," Palamar said, "and a lot of these
seniors don't take dosing seriously, especially edibles. They think
'What's the big deal? I used to do this when I was a kid.'
"Like, no. This is a very different
situation. I've heard stories about people eating a whole marijuana
cookie or brownie and then call 911 because they think they're dying."
Eating or smoking too much pot isn't a worry for 74-year-old Carol Collin.
"Even
when we were doing this years and years and years ago, I wasn't much
into eating brownies or the smoking kind of stuff 'cause I didn't like
losing my control of my life," she said.
"And
the people I know that are using marijuana today, they're not drinking
or smoking or anything. They're using it for the pain relief because it
works."
Full Article & Source:
Marijuana use is rising sharply among seniors over 65, study says, and there are serious risks
