Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at a new Medicare program that provides cannabis to some seniors, the Governor’s support for legalizing recreational cannabis in Pennsylvania and a new report comparing consumption trends of cannabis and alcohol in Canada. Enjoy.
Cannabis and Medicare
Top takeaway: Under a pilot program, Medicare will pay for CBD products for some seniors.
Shocking as it may sound, Medicare has announced it will now cover the cost of some hemp – based CBD products for seniors receiving treatment through three specific types of service providers.
So says Maya Goldman, reporting for Axios. According to Goldman, the program is part of a White House effort to reschedule marijuana and is consistent with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s interest in non-pharmaceutical, alternative treatments.
Here’s how the pilot program works. CBD products will be available for free to patients receiving treatment from organizations that fall under one of three categories: ACO REACH, the Enhancing Oncology Model, and the upcoming LEAD Model.
ACO REACH providers include hospitals, primary care physicians, and specialists that collaborate voluntarily to coordinate care for Medicare patients. The goal is to ensure patients receive the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary costs and gaps in service.
The Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM) is a nationwide voluntary payment model that incentivizes oncology practices to deliver coordinated, high-quality patient-centered care for Medicare beneficiaries receiving systemic chemotherapy for seven specific cancers: high-risk breast cancer, lung cancer, chronic leukemia, small intestine/colorectal, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and high-risk prostate cancer.
The upcoming LEAD Model is another form of ACO.
Medicare providers will be reimbursed as much as $500 per patient each year to discuss and provide certain CBD products. Providers have to pay the cost of the up front and are not permitted to instruct seniors to buy their own products.
Based on the published rules, only orally administered products (such as tinctures, capsules, and oils) will be available to participants. The pilot excludes inhalable products, and all eligible items must contain no more than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC, and cap at 3 milligrams of total tetrahydrocannabinols per serving.
In addition, products must be tested by a third party and meet state and local standards. The program excludes patients who have certain medical conditions, including substance use disorder and COPD.
A qualified physician affiliated with the organization must furnish the products. Patients will not be able to buy retail CBD and seek reimbursement.
Goldman makes the point that a law due to take effect in November of this year will change the legal definition of hemp, re-criminalizing many substances in the category that Congress in 2018 declared were not controlled substances. She notes that Medicare says it’ll adjust limits on hemp products offered in the Medicare pilot program as the law changes.
So no, hell hasn’t frozen over and Secretary Kennedy won’t be standing on a street corner handing out free samples. However, it is a step and, one suspects, this step will make it more difficult for the DEA to argue that cannabis does not have any medicinal value when and if rescheduling finally rolls round.
Maya Goldman’s reporting is clear and concise. Her article appears in the April 6, 2026 issue of Axios.
https://www.axios.com/2026/04/06/medicare-coverage-cbd-products-cannabis?
Notable Numbers
Top takeaway: Pennsylvania could generate $2 hundred million in annual tax revenue by legalizing adult use cannabis.
This week’s notable number is 2 billion, as in 2 billion dollars. That’s how much Gov. Josh Shapiro believes the commonwealth of Pennsylvania could generate in tax revenue, based on sales, fees and job creation, over the long term, by legalizing recreational cannabis.
According to the Lebanon Daily News, Shapiro’s office recently estimated that in the first year alone, the state would take in $729.4 million in taxes, of which $659.6 million would come from one-time licensing fees, while another $73.8 million would be collected from wholesale and retail sales taxes. Those licensing fees include a $25 million charge to current medical marijuana dispensaries that want to sell both medical and recreational marijuana. which is much higher than other states charge.
Said Shapiro, in a comment about his most recent budget proposal, which included a statement supporting the legalization of recreational cannabis, “We’re putting our communities at risk (through a lack of regulation) and losing out on billions of dollars in revenue by doing nothing.” He believes legalizing adult-use cannabis should be part of “comprehensive cannabis reform.”
Shapiro is no newcomer when it comes to supporting the legalization of recreational cannabis. This marks the third time he has included such a proposal in his budget submission.
As he has noted in previous statements, much of that support is rooted in the awareness that Pennsylvania is surrounded by states that have legalized the recreational use of cannabis by adults and, he contends, is losing potential tax dollars when Pennsylvania residents visit those states to purchase cannabis.
According to Amanda Rizzo, reporting in the Bucks County Beacon, cannabis advocates have responded favorably to his proposal.
Brittany Crampsie, spokesperson for Responsible PA, a coalition of advocates and industries that want to legalize adult-use cannabis in Pennsylvania, told Rizzo legalization would “solve a lot of problems.”
Said Crampsie, “There is no appetite to raise or collect more taxes, and we have to find other places to raise revenue. Every other state, with the exception of West Virginia, is balancing their budgets off cannabis sales.”
It should be noted that Shapiro is one of a number of Democrats who are taking soundings about a possible run for President. Apparently, he doesn’t think his cannabis position will hurt his chances, should he run for national office.
To learn more, we suggest reading Amanda Rizzo’s reporting in the Bucks County Beacon.
Consumer Trends
Top takeaway: A new report reveals that cannabis sales in Canada are increasing while alcohol sales are declining.
A sobering report on alcohol and cannabis sales in the Great White North may be enough to turn a number of Labatt’s drinkers blue.
Statistics Canada, a government agency, recently reported that retailers in Canada sold C$5.5 billion worth of legal recreational cannabis products in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. This represents a 6.1 percent increase from the previous annual period.
Viewed from another perspective, that’s the equivalent of every person of legal age spending C$167 a year on cannabis.
At the same time, alcohol sales retreated by 1.6 percent over that same period, a drop that occurred despite a 1.6 increase in retail alcohol prices. The resulting decline in government revenue “was the largest annual decrease since Statistics Canada began tracking this series in 2004/2005.”
Tom Angel, who covered the story for Marijuana Moment, makes the point in his article that while the C$25.8 billion worth of alcoholic beverages sold in the fiscal year still outpaces marijuana’s total, the sales figures represent a trend where consumers are switching away from beer, wine and liquor toward cannabis, which is increasingly viewed as a safer alternative by consumers.
Neither Bob nor Doug McKenzie was available for comment.
In the same article, Angel also noted that a separate study funded by the Canadian government found that alcohol and tobacco cause far more harm to people who consume them, and to society overall, than marijuana does.
According to Angel, in that study, a panel of 20 experts with professional experience with substance use issues were asked to evaluate 16 different drugs on 10 dimensions of harm to consumers, as well as six dimensions of harm to others, scoring each on a scale of 0 to 100.
The “harms” cited by the experts included drug-related damage to physical health, withdrawal, short-term impairment of mental functioning, long-term impairment of mental functioning, loss of tangibles, loss of relationships, injury, family and social adversity, and economic cost.
Tom Angel is the editor of Marijuana Moment. His article on cannabis and alcohol sales in Canada appears in the publication’s March 19, 2026 issue.
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.