By According to an article recently published by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the use of cannabis by older adults is continuing to rise. This should come as no surprise to anyone as jurisdictions continue to legalize and the stigmas associated with cannabis use dropping.
” Our study shows cannabis use is increasingly popular nationwide among older adults,” said Benjamin Han, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor in both the Department of Medicine and the Department of Population Health at New York University Langone Health’s Robert I. ” (Note 1)
Data for close to 15 000 older adults from National Survey on Drug Use and Health was used. They looked at the numbers from 2015 to 2018. After analyzing the numbers, the authors concluded that cannabis usage increased from 2.4% in 2015 to 4.2% in 2018. Women had significantly higher year to year increases.
Older adults, college educated showed a 114% increase from 2015 to 2018. Households making more than than $75,000 per year showed an increase of more than 129%.
Older adults with diabetes accounted for a 180% increase in cannabis use Older adults with heart disease showed an increase of 109% increase in those with . Other increases included a 71% increase for older adults suffering from hypertension and 33% increase for those suffering from cancer.
Cannabis usage for mental health increased as well. In 2015 there was a 2.8% increase. That number jumped to 7.2% in 2018.
Cannabis is slowly replacing alcohol and tobacco as well. Alcohol users have increased their usage of cannabis by 117% while tobacco users have increased theirs to nearly 80%.
- Source Note 1: https://www.aafp.org/news/health-of-the-public/20200304cannabisuse.html