Seniors are getting high. According to new research in JAMA Internal Medicine, marijuana use has surged among those 65 and older by 46% from 2021 to 2023. The researchers note that much of the increased prevalence is concentrated in states with legalized medical marijuana laws.
Despite industry propaganda, this is not a good thing.
Marijuana damages the heart. A new study from University of California—San Francisco finds that marijuana is just as bad for heart health as cigarettes. And whether you smoke or eat it doesn’t seem to matter. More recently, there was a review that analyzed twenty-four studies and concluded that marijuana use was associated with a 29% increase in experiencing an acute coronary syndromes (ACS describes a range of conditions where the blood flow to the heart is suddenly reduced or blocked; a heart attack is one of the potential consequences). Marijuana use was also associated with a 20% increase in having a stroke, and a horrifying 110% increase in experiencing cardiovascular death.
It hurts the mind as well. A recent study published in JAMA Neurology finds that marijuana users who went to the ER were 23% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia within five years, compared with nonusers who also went to the ER. Zeroing in on hospital patients, those who used marijuana had a 72% greater risk of dementia within five years compared with marijuana abstainers.
For concrete evidence on that, just ask Jody (her name, and all others in this piece, have been changed to protect privacy).
Jody is a former dispensary worker (a k a budtender). While she was employed as a budtender, she herself was addicted to marijuana—needing increasingly stronger doses. She ended up beating the addiction; she left the industry and went back to school to become a physical therapist working primarily with the elderly—including one older patient “with a long list of medical problems.” Jody once found her “unable to get out of her chair, naked and unable to clothe herself.” What was next to her? A “large container of high potency THC edibles that she reported using for pain.” The woman was severely cognitively compromised; she was promptly whisked to the ER.
Judy’s story was equally revealing. She was married to a veteran who got his cannabis use disorder via a medical marijuana card issued to him during his senior years. He was struggling with childhood trauma as well as PTSD related to his service. Then medical marijuana came into play, and according to Judy nothing was ever the same. He started erupting in rage and aggression, destroying things, charging at her. She had to call the police.
No shock there: Cannabis use disorder is linked to anger management difficulties, contrary to the popular belief of marijuana “mellowing.”
The third woman I spoke to, Diana, told me her husband had experienced cannabis-induced psychosis: “It completely changed him as a person . . . mentally, spiritually.”
Marijuana harms the body and the mind. It also affects loved ones, wrecking in months or weeks relationships built over decades: marriages and friendships and connections to sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives. These are adults with long lives behind them, careers, and accomplishments. Not confused kids making a dumb mistake.
They have been misled thanks to an aggressive misinformation campaign conducted by the marijuana industry.
In a world where practically everything is commercialized, we need to uphold genuine treatments that actually improve the health of people and safeguard our most vulnerable from corporate gimmicks. This first and foremost includes, as Jody put it, “education, education, and education” about the harms of marijuana—especially given that she caught wind of medical marijuana companies presenting to the residents at a few assisted living facilities. Like a recent offering outlined in an article spotlighting Pineapple Express, a marijuana business in Massachusetts. They hit up “series at senior centers across Massachusetts” so the owner can “give talks and workshops on the benefits of cannabis.”
Grandma and grandpa deserve better than the lies of Big Marijuana. Getting them accurate information is the least we can do.