Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at an expert’s thoughts on seniors using cannabis, tips on using cannabis to manage anxiety and the growing popularity of microdosing. Enjoy.
Cannabis Quote of the Week
Top Takeaway: Medical cannabis can help seniors deal with chronic pain, anxiety and insomnia and improve their quality of life.
“Whether it’s the grinding discomfort of chronic pain, the “gray” fog of late-life anxiety or the persistent, soul-crushing frustration of insomnia, older adults are discovering that the cannabis plant can often do what many of our standard prescriptions cannot—provide genuine relief without a laundry list of debilitating side effects.
Our elders are finding an exit ramp from the “polypharmacy” treadmill, seeking to decrease their reliance on traditional pharmaceuticals that can often come with more baggage than benefit…
When used with skill, caution and proper guidance, cannabis often presents fewer harms than the traditional pharmaceuticals we so readily prescribe to our seniors. Unlike many of those drugs, cannabis does not destroy the liver or kidneys, it doesn’t cause gastric ulcers or chronic constipation and it does not contribute to the development of dementia. If patients are followed by a cannabis-savvy clinician and are educated to “start low and go slow” when getting started, they tend to do extremely well.
We owe it to our older patients to walk with them past the shadows of the last fifty years. Our job as care providers, including family members, is to meet patients where they are, armed with evidence and empathy. With proper education and guidance, we can help our seniors use medical cannabis to reclaim their quality of life.” – Dr. Peter Grinspoon.
Dr. Peter Grinspoon is an addiction specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the book, “Aging Well with Cannabis: Feel Better, Live Better and Sleep Better with Marijuana and CBD.”
Grinspoon’s comments are taken from an op-ed he penned for Marijuana Moment. In that editorial he notes that “the ultimate goal of medicine isn’t just to add years to a person’s life, but to add quality and vitality to those final years. Medical cannabis can be a profoundly helpful tool in this journey.”
He also acknowledges that cannabis is not a panacea or a “miracle cure” for every ailment and, like other medications used for pain and sleep, cannabis can cause dizziness, affect a patient’s balance, and can temporarily impact short-term memory.
And, he states, “we cannot ignore the fact that for a modest percentage of users, cannabis can be addictive.”
Grinspoon also shares the story of his father, Dr. Lester Grinspoon, a cannabis expert and scholar at Harvard Medical School. His father spent his career educating physicians and the public alike about the medicinal benefits of cannabis. When in his eighties and nineties, he used cannabis himself to manage chronic pain and cancer-related symptoms, maintaining a quality of life that, Peter Grinspoon believes, would have been impossible otherwise.
Dr. Grinspoon’s op-ed is powerful, direct and balanced. It appears in the May 4, 2026 issue of Marijuana Moment.net and is well worth your time.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/medical-marijuana-can-be-a-profoundly-helpful-tool-for-seniors-dealing-with-pain-and-other-maladies-op-ed/
Tips on Using Cannabis to Treat Anxiety
Top Takeaway: Cannabis strains high in CBD content are most effective when treating anxiety.
Increasingly, mature consumers and others are turning to cannabis as a way to treat anxiety by improving the quality of their sleep, relieving stress, improving their mood and calming an overactive mind.
However, it should be noted that not all strains of cannabis are equally effective when it comes to producing the desired results.
So said Jessica Reilly-Chevalier in an article she penned for The Cannigma several years ago. The tips she offers are still timely and helpful.
For her article, Reilly-Chevallier organized cannabis into three categories, based on the percentage of the cannabinoids THC and CBD found in particular strains or varieties of cannabis: strains that are high in THC and low in CBD, strains in which THC content and CBD content are balanced and those strains that are low in THC and high in CBD.
While strains that are high in THC tend to be popular in the marketplace, particularly among recreational users, according to Reilly-Chevallier these strains are the least effective when it comes to addressing the symptoms of anxiety, except when consumed in very low doses.
More effective, she reports, are strains where THC and CBD content are equally balanced and those that are low in THC and high in CBD. She contends this is because CBD can temper some of the more psychoactive aspects of THC, which can make anxiety symptoms worse when consumed in high doses.
Studies suggest CBD can help to regulate mood and stress responses by modulating serotonin levels in the brain. It also is said to exhibit anti-inflammatory properties, which can alleviate anxiety-related symptoms and it may also help to improve sleep, which is key when it comes to managing anxiety.
Some of the better-known strains with a balanced THC/CBD content are Argyle, Dancehall and Sweet and Sour Widow. Strains known to have a higher CBD content include Kosher Kush, Harlequin and Ringo’s Gift. If you can’t find these specific strains at your local dispensary, let your budtender know what you’re looking for, what you are trying to achieve and ask for a recommendation.
When it comes to how cannabis is consumed, Reilly-Chevallier reports oral consumption is better for controlling anxiety on a daily basis. This method also offers the benefit of making it easier to control the dose of cannabis that’s consumed.
She also notes studies have shown that specific terpenes, the natural compounds found in each cannabis strain that contribute to its characteristic aroma and taste, can also play a role in managing anxiety.
She suggests looking for strains that are known to contain the following terpenes: Linalool, which has a floral scent and is found in Purple Vapor, Santa’s Cookies and Chocolate Grape Diesel, Limonene, which has a citrus aroma and is found in Lemon Pound Cake, Purple Punch and White Fire OG and the terpene Pinene, which smells like pine trees and is found in strains, such as Big Bud, Guava Cake and Diamond OG.
Jessica Reilly-Chevalier did a masterful job of laying out the basics of how to use cannabis to manage anxiety. You can learn much more by reading her article, which appeared in The Cannigma. Simply click on the following link.
https://cannigma.com/strain/best-strains-and-terpenes-for-anxiety/?
Cannabis Corner
Top takeaway: Many consumers report that taking a small dose of cannabis can make a big difference when managing anxiety or other medical problems.
According to Graham Abbott, reporting for Ganjapreneur, researchers from the University of California San Francisco determined in a recent study that Americans are microdosing cannabis more than any other substance. Typically, they’re doing this for medical reasons, such as managing anxiety or chronic pain.
The practice of microdosing — taking a very small dose of a psychoactive substance — is usually associated with psychedelic drugs, such as LSD or psilocybin.
First author Kevin Yang, MD, resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, believes the study “suggests conversations about microdosing may be overlooking a large group of people who are using small amounts of cannabis in similar ways.”
While the study found that respondents reported microdosing cannabis most often for medical reasons, such as anxiety or chronic pain, Abbott noted that psychedelic microdosing was used more frequently for recreational purposes by those who wanted a milder experience.
Said Eric Leas, PhD, MPH, senior author and assistant professor at the UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, “Microdosing appears to be a growing behavior that cuts across different substances and motivations. Understanding how and why people are using these small doses is essential if we want to develop evidence-based policies and guidance for clinicians and the public.”
The study, reported Abbott, used survey results from 1,525 U.S. adults polled in 2023 about their microdosing habits. Nearly 10 percent of respondents said they had microdosed cannabis at least once in their life, while 5.3 percent reported microdosing psilocybin and 4.8 percent reported microdosing LSD. Additionally, just over 2 percent reported microdosing MDMA at least once.
As always, Graham Abbott’s reporting is clear and concise. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the May 6, 2026 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
https://ganjapreneur.com/survey-americans-microdose-cannabis-far-more-than-psychedelics/?
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at Joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.