Adult Cannabis Use on the Rise in Adults

Adult marijuana use is increasing among baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) in the United States, especially men, according to a study published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The findings appear to reflect changing attitudes toward Cannabis nationwide, suggested study co-author Bill Jesdale, assistant professor of population and quantitative health sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.

Drug use has increased in adults, both in states where marijuana has been legalized for recreational use and in states where it has not, he said. 'It seems like something has happened to the country as a whole.'

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The study analyzed three years of survey data, collected from 2016 to 2018, on Cannabis use in 171,507 adults aged 55 and older in 19 states and two territories.

Men aged 60 to 64 reported the highest rates of marijuana use, with 12.6% of respondents saying they used the drug in the past 30 days in 2018, up from 8.9% in 2016. During the same period, use also nearly doubled among men aged 65 to 69 (rising from 4.3% in 2016 to 8.2% in 2018) and among men aged 70 to 74 (from 3.2% to 6%). There was less change in use among women.

The increase in use among older adults is something that Phillip Favila, manager of Sweet Flower, a Los Angeles cannabis dispensary, has noticed.

'We've seen a strange uptick in people in their 50s,' he said.

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The research itself offered no insight into why more boomers are using marijuana, but Jesdale and his colleagues suggested several possible explanations, including a greater willingness to admit use due to lower stigma, increased drug availability, reduced inhibitions against use, and its medicinal benefits. In fact, other studies have found that some adults have turned to Cannabis for help with pain, anxiety, and sleep problems, researchers noted.

While there is some evidence that Cannabis may alleviate certain types of pain, not much research has been done on its use in adults. Cannabis has also been shown to help with certain types of insomnia. There is little evidence that Cannabis helps alleviate anxiety.

Researchers said one reason they embarked on the study was concern that the effects of Cannabis in adults may be different from those experienced by young people. Young adults aged 18 to 25 continue to be the largest users of the substance in the USA, with 38.7% reporting use in 2018, according to a government report.

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'Our colleague from Canada was thinking about Cannabis use in nursing homes as that number has increased,' Jesdale said. 'There is very little evidence on how marijuana interacts with many of the medications used in this population.'

There are concerns that marijuana use in adults may increase the risk of drug interactions when combined with certain medications. A review published in January in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology noted, for example, that marijuana may interact with certain heart medications, putting users at risk.

There is also a higher risk of confusion, dizziness, falls, and other accidents, the report said.

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The report did not mention the previous marijuana use of the respondents, so Jesdale could not say whether the increase was due to new users or people returning to a drug they used in college and high school.

Favila, the dispensary manager, said his boomer clients are looking to reconnect with experiences from their youth.

'For many of them, it's nostalgic,' he said.

'The scent of a flower can trigger memories of when they were back in college, hanging out with friends at the baseball field,' Favila said, referring to the marijuana plant. He added that his older clients prefer Cannabis for smoking.

Source: information from NBC News