Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at the growth in the number of seniors who use cannabis, a new study on heart health and cannabis use, research on the impact medical cannabis can have on sleep and pain and much more. Enjoy.
Cannabis Use and Older Adults
The percentage of older adults who use cannabis continues to grow. That’s a key takeaway from a new federally-funded report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The report, published in the form known as a “research letter,” was written by researchers at University of California, San Diego and New York University medical schools.
Drawing on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the report shows the percentage of adults aged 65 and older who acknowledge they had used cannabis in the previous month grew to 7.0 percent in 2023, up from 4.8 percent in 2021.
According to Ben Adlin, reporting for Marijuana Moment, this finding is consistent with a trend reported over the past few decades, with the percentage of those who said they had used cannabis in the previous year rising from 1.0 percent in 2005 to 4.2 percent in 2018.
Adlin noted that the report revealed that the increase in the percentage of older adults who acknowledged they used cannabis was especially strong among people who listed their race as “other,” women, white people, people with college or post-college degrees, those with higher-income, married people and those living in states with legal medical marijuana.
In addition, wrote Adlin, people with multiple chronic diseases also reported a recent increase in prevalence of use.
In his article, Adlin makes the point that JAMA also published an editor’s note along with the report, asserting that “existing therapeutic evidence for medical cannabis in older adults has been inconsistent across several conditions, with many studies suggesting possible benefits, while others finding limited benefit.”
(We think making a distinction between “possible benefits” and “a limited benefit” is an interesting medical hair to split, but be that as it may.)
In addition to providing a laundry list of the potential negative consequences that could befall an older individual who uses cannabis, the editor’s note went on to suggest, “Older adults require information on methods available for taking cannabis and age-specific dosing guidance. Health care professionals should recognize that older adults are increasingly using cannabis products and promote open and judgment-free conversations about its use.”
Adlin also cited a report published in 2024 that found that marijuana use by older people in the U.S. had nearly doubled in the previous three years—with most older individuals who said they used cannabis reporting that they use it to relieve pain, help with sleep, improve mental health and achieve other benefits.
According to that report, which was sponsored by AARP, more than 1 in 5 Americans aged 50 and older said they used marijuana at least once in the past year, according to the survey conducted by the University of Michigan, while more than 1 in 10 consumed cannabis at least monthly. Researchers who wrote that report said they expected use rates among older adults to continue to increase as more states legalize cannabis.
As always, Adlin’s reporting is clear, concise and insightful. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the June 2, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Spotlight on Heart Health
A new study suggests chronic cannabis use may contribute to a very specific type of risk when it comes to heart health. As is often the case with studies that spark a host of headlines, it’s not nothing. However, it’s not clear just how much of a “something” will eventually be found there.
The study, which was conducted by researchers affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine and several other institutions, was published in the journal JAMA Cardiology.
According to Melissa Rudy, who covered the story for Fox News, the study focused on the heart health of 55 individuals aged 18 to 50 years, living in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Some members of that group—who neither smoked tobacco nor vaped and were not frequently exposed to secondhand smoke— consumed cannabis regularly by either smoking it or ingesting edibles.
Overall, the cannabis users reported that they had been consuming the substance at least three times weekly for at least one year. On average, the smokers had used cannabis for 10 years, while those consuming edibles had been doing so for five years.
The researchers contend their study found that chronic cannabis smoking and THC ingestion were both associated with endothelial dysfunction similar to that observed in tobacco smokers.
Endothelial dysfunction is a condition where the lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, doesn’t function properly. This can lead to reduced blood vessel dilation and increased inflammation, potentially contributing to cardiovascular disease.
While all of the cannabis users who participated in the study were said to have “decreased vascular function”—a condition linked to a higher risk of heart attack, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular conditions—the participants who smoked marijuana were also found to have changes in their blood serum that could harm the cells lining blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. This is an effect that was not seen in those who ate edible cannabis.
Wrote the researchers in the article that described the study, “This study enhances the understanding of the potential risks to vascular health linked to cannabis use and provides more evidence that cannabis use is not benign.”
However, as Rudy does point out in her article, the study did have some limitations. For starters, the researchers themselves acknowledge they were working with a small sample size (55 individuals) that was divided into three groups: those who smoked cannabis, those who ate edibles and those who did neither. So, in reality, the sample size of those who did consume cannabis was even less than 55 in number.
They also acknowledged that variability in cannabis strains complicates standardization and self-reported cannabis use may introduce recall bias. In addition, the researchers said that it was also a challenge to determine whether blood vessel function could have also been affected by lifestyle factors, such as stress, caffeine and secondhand smoke exposure.
Dr. Bradley Serwer, a Maryland-based cardiologist and chief medical officer at VitalSolution, a company that offers cardiovascular and anesthesiology services to hospitals nationwide, told Fox News, “There are therapeutic uses of cannabis, and the decision to use or avoid it should be made with all benefits and risks in mind.”
So, it’s not nothing, but only time and research will determine how much of a “something” is actually there.
Melissa Rudy takes a very even-handed approach to the story. We urge readers who care to learn more to read her article, which appeared in the May 30, 2025 issue of Foxnews.com.
To read an abstract of the study, click on the link that follows.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/article-abstract/2834540?resultClick=1
Notable Numbers
This week’s notable number is $25 billion. That’s about how much states have generated in revenue from recreational cannabis since the first sales started over a decade ago.
So says Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment on a new report from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). That report revealed that in 2024 alone, states collected $4.4 billion in recreational cannabis tax revenue—the most ever garnered in a single year and about $200 million more than was generated in 2023.
Jaeger noted that this new adult-use-focused analysis does not account for additional revenue that states have collected from medical marijuana sales.
Said Lauren Daly, interim executive director at MPP, “At a time when federal funding cuts are putting pressure on states’ budgets, adult-use cannabis taxes are bringing billions of dollars into states’ coffers.”
Added Daly, “Legal adult-use markets have also contributed to significant job growth, creating thousands of new employment and small business opportunities. While economic growth isn’t the primary reason for legalizing adult-use cannabis, it is undeniably a great benefit.”
The report acknowledges that, “Taxes on a single product cannot solve all of a state’s financial challenges. But it helps.” It also makes the point that In several states, cannabis tax revenue brings in more than alcohol taxes and in states with mature markets—markets that have been operating for several years— “adult-use cannabis taxes can often amount to 0.25 percent to 1.5 percent of the entire state budget.”
The top three states, when it comes to the tax revenue collected, are California ($1,009,284,380), Illinois ($577,412,683) and Michigan ($523,552,765).
As always, Kyle Jaeger’s reporting is first rate. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the May 29, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Cannabis News and Notes
A team of researchers affiliated with the University of Central Florida recently conducted a study to examine the hypothesis that medical cannabis use will help individuals experience less pain, depression and anxiety, while improving sleep.
The researchers recruited a sample of 106 medical cannabis users nationwide. The ages of the members of the group ranged from 55 to 74. Also, members of the group were predominantly women ( 66.67 percent) and white ( 82.86 percent).
The researcher’s model for examining patterns of use of medical cannabis—and the subjective experience of the participants that use it—was broken into four segments, or as they termed them, epochs:
• A state of intoxication caused by the use of medical cannabis.
• The level of pain, anxiety and depression experienced by participants throughout the day.
• The quality of sleep experienced by participants that night.
• The subsequent level of pain, anxiety, and depression experienced by participants the following day.
The researchers found that intoxication from cannabis on the part of a participant was a predictor for lower post-use pain, anxiety, and depression throughout the day. Intoxication from medical cannabis was also related to lower anxiety and better sleep at night.
The research team believes its findings provide evidence of what they describe as, “momentary improvements in pain, anxiety, depression, and indirect benefits for sleep quality” as a consequence of using medical cannabis. In combination with other findings, they contend, the results advance the understanding of the effectiveness and limitations of medical cannabis use among older adults.
The study was published online in the May 15, 2025 issue of the journal Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes. To read an abstract of the study, simply click on the link that follows.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00332747.2025.2484827 older adults
Cannabis and the Law
In what might be a case of “Back to the Future—Jersey Style,” lawmakers in “The Garden State” are considering a bill that would bring back the criminalization of cannabis in a very specific set of circumstances.
If passed, this new law would likely come as a shock to many who thought New Jersey’s marijuana legalization law put an end to such things.
According to an article that appeared in MMJDaily, under the bill sponsored by Senate President Nick Scutari (D-Union), it would be a third-degree crime to operate an unlicensed marijuana business and a disorderly persons offense to knowingly purchase from one. In addition, a person who leads an “illegal marijuana business network” would be charged with a second-degree crime.
Said Scutari, in comments to the Senate Judiciary Committee, “We have a problem where people are opening up brick-and-mortar stores, small stores, unlicensed to sell these products, and quite frankly, they’re just selling them and this state is doing nothing about it. We need to do something more about those brick-and-mortar stores, but we also need to continue to fight back against drug dealers because those are alive and well.”
Scutari is not a prohibitionist. Far from it. As MMJDaily reports, he spearheaded legalizing adult-use cannabis, first introducing legislation to regulate it in 2014, and was the primary sponsor of the bill to launch the legal marijuana industry in New Jersey.
There is some thought that his bill could help to drive consumers away from the black market and toward legal, and therefore regulated and taxable, sources of cannabis.
MMJDaily is described as an online meeting place for legal and professional growers of medical cannabis who want to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques. It should not be confused with MJBizDaily.com.
To learn more, we suggest reading the article that appeared in the June 3, 2025 issue of MMJDaily.com.
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.
