Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at the benefits and challenges of using medical marijuna, a cannabis-based drug for back pain, self-medicating with cannabis when depressed and more. Enjoy.
Cannabis Quote of the Week
Top takeaway: Patients who use medical marijuana need education and guidance and physicians need training.
“In 2009, I suffered a devastating crash that left me with chronic pain, nausea, loss of appetite and severe sleep disruption from a clavicle and multiple rib fractures. Years were spent pursuing conventional treatments. Some provided temporary relief. None restored my quality of life.
Medical cannabis was suggested. I resisted in part because of the athletic stigma but also fear, not to mention the irony of being a cannabis researcher who was reluctant to use it. Eventually, desperation outweighed embarrassment.
When Colorado’s adult-use dispensaries opened in 2014, I walked into one and explained my symptoms. I left with cannabis-infused gummies and transdermal patches. Nobody explained dosing. Nobody told me to cut the patch into smaller pieces so I put on an entire patch. The result was memorable. I got far higher than intended but for the first time in a long time, I slept.
That experience taught me an important lesson that still applies today: cannabis is not as simple as taking a pill. Patients need education and guidance. They need evidence-based recommendations. Most importantly, they need healthcare providers who are comfortable having these conversations.
More than a decade later, I am still learning. Cannabis has helped restore my appetite. I sleep consistently. My chronic illnesses are more manageable. Has it eliminated my pain? No. But it has reduced my suffering.
As both a patient and an epidemiologist, that distinction matters.” – Joanna Zeiger, Ph. D.
Dr. Zeiger, a U.S. Olympian and former Ironman 70.3 World Champion, is the founder and CEO of Canna Research Foundation and serves on the board of directors of the National Compassionate Care Council. She has earned a M.S. in Genetic Counseling at Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in Genetic Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Her comments are taken from an op-ed she penned for Marijuana Moment.
In her editorial she notes that the rescheduling of cannabis and a new pilot program that allows cannabis access to Medicare patients acknowledges the reality that millions of patients and healthcare providers already understand: cannabis has medical uses and deserves to be studied accordingly.
Wrote Zeiger, “I see a substance (cannabis) that carries both risks and benefits. I see patients who deserve better information and physicians who need more education. And I see a scientific field that has been constrained for decades by stigma and regulatory barriers.
“Most of all, I see people whose lives may improve when they are given access to accurate information and the freedom to make informed decisions. That’s not a political position. It’s a public health one.”
You can learn much more by reading Dr. Zeiger’s editorial in the June 24, 2026 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Cannabis and Pain Management
Top takeaway: In a clinical trial, a cannabis-based drug was more effective for pain management than opioids.
There may be hopeful news for individuals who suffer from chronic pain. A cannabis-derived pharmaceutical that outperformed opioids in a clinical trial has received regulatory approval in Europe.
According to staff writers at The Cannigma, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Munich, Germany, called VERTANICAL, has announced that its drug Exilby® (VER-01) has received marketing authorization in Germany and Austria for the treatment of chronic low back pain. This marks the first European marketing authorization ever granted for a cannabis-based prescription medicine targeting chronic pain.
The story, however, doesn’t end there. Writing in Forbes, Will Yakowicz reports that Clemens Fischer, the pharma billionaire behind the company and the drug, has set his sights on the U.S. market.
Said Fischer, “For decades, patients with chronic pain have too often been forced to choose between insufficient relief and unacceptable risk. The German marketing authorization of Exilby shows that a different path is possible.”
Neither a CBD oil or a dispensary product, the drug is a precisely standardized, pharmaceutical-grade full-spectrum extract derived from a proprietary Cannabis sativa strain, called DKJ127 L, developed specifically for chronic pain treatment.
While not yet approved for use in the U.S., the FDA has granted the drug Breakthrough Therapy Designation. This designation recognizes that the drug has potential to substantially improve treatment compared to available therapy. In addition, the company has initiated a Phase 3 trial, with a first data read-out anticipated in 2027 and a New Drug Application planned for 2028, subject to positive results.
To learn more, we suggest reading the article that appeared in the June 17, 2026 issue of The Cannigma.
To read Will Yakowicz’s reporting in the June 9, 2026 issue of Forbes, click on the link that follows.
Notable Numbers
Top takeaway: A growing number of individuals diagnosed with depression are self medicating with cannabis.
According to a report from a precision psychiatry company called NeuroKaire, 22 percent of Boomers with a depression diagnosis indicated either “regular” or “occasional” cannabis use. Boomers refers to mature individuals born between 1946 and 1964.
So says TG Branfalt writing for Ganjapreneur. In his article he notes that the report revealed that half of Gen Z , those born from 1997 to 2012, who have been diagnosed with depression consume cannabis, while 48 percent of Millennials, those born from 1981 to 1996, and 41 percent of those who are part of Gen X, those born from 1965 to 1980, also consume cannabis to manage depression.
The report also pointed out that depressed individuals tend to use CBD products at higher rates than their non-depressed peers.
According to Branfalt, NeuroKaire concluded in the report that the cannabis survey data “reveals a population that is actively self-treating with plant-based substances and doing so with increasing intentionality.”
The report stated, “The prevalence of marijuana use (which may serve multiple purposes) and CBD use specifically for mental wellness suggests that Americans with depression are not just using these substances recreationally.They are building treatment regimens outside of the clinical system.”
To learn more, we urge you to read TG Branfalt’s article in the June 25, 2026 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
ganjapreneur.com/half-of-gen-z-diagnosed-with-depression-report-using-cannabis/?
Terpene Territory
Top takeaway: The compounds responsible for the aroma of cannabis may offer a new way to treat post-surgical and fibromyalgia pain.
A study published in the journal Pharmacological Reports found that terpenes could reduce pain tied to inflammation and chemotherapy-related nerve damage.
According to an article in Science Direct that described the study, terpenes – the natural compounds responsible for the scent and flavor of cannabis and other plants – may also have medicinal properties. And, unlike tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, they do not produce the unwanted psychoactive effects commonly associated with cannabis. Experts say this makes them an appealing area of research for scientists searching for new pain treatments.
For the study, researchers examined four terpenes commonly found in Cannabis sativa: geraniol, linalool, beta-caryophyllene, and alpha-humulene. Geraniol delivered the strongest results, followed by linalool, beta-caryophyllene, and alpha-humulene.
Said John Streicher, Ph.D., a member of the Comprehensive Center for Pain & Addiction at the University of Arizona, “This study was the first to investigate the impact of terpenes in preclinical models of fibromyalgia and post-operative pain and expand the scope of potential pain-relieving treatments using terpenes.”
He added that “We are seeing significant reductions in pain when terpenes are used for chronic or pathological pain.”
Streicher contends the findings could potentially have a large impact and make a difference for an under-treated population – the four million Americans with fibromyalgia in particular.
He also acknowledged that terpenes were less effective at managing acute pain or reducing acute pain resulting from an injury, such as stubbing your toe or touching a hot stove.
You can learn more by reading the article that appeared in the June 20, 20276 issue of the publication Science Daily.com.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619033343.htm
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.