TOP LINE
Nearly 9% of U.S. adults aged 65 or older reported using cannabis in the past year, and of those, about 1 in 9 met diagnostic criteria for cannabis use disorder (CUD), a study found. Nearly a quarter of CUD cases were moderate or severe.
METHODOLOGY
- Investigators conducted a secondary cross-sectional analysis using data from noninstitutionalized U.S. adults (unweighted n = 21,189) aged 65 years or older, obtained from the 2021-2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
- Researchers analyzed cannabis use in terms of recency (use within the past 12 months and past 30 days) and frequency (≥300 days or <300 days per year).
- Consumption patterns, medical recommendations for cannabis, and use of cannabidiol or hemp products were only assessed between 2022 and 2024 (unweighted n = 15,751).
- Data on sociodemographic factors, other substance use, chronic health conditions, and cannabis use habits were also analyzed.
- CUD has been identified as meeting at least two of the 11 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria. Severity of CUD was classified as mild (meeting 2–3 criteria), moderate (meeting 4–5 criteria), or severe (meeting 6–11 criteria).
TAKE AWAY
- In total, 8.9% and 6.0% of seniors used cannabis in the past year or 30 days, respectively. Among past-year cannabis users, 11.4% met the criteria for CUD: 76.0% had mild CUD, 20.1% had moderate CUD, and 3.9% had severe CUD. The most commonly encountered CUD criteria were time spent obtaining/using/retrieving (74.4%), craving (67.5%), and tolerability (48.3%).
- Among past-year cannabis users, smoking (65.8%), eating or drinking (40.5%), and vaping (15.4%) were the most common modes of cannabis use; only 19.9% of consumers reported having received a medical recommendation regarding cannabis.
- People who used cannabis for 300 or more days per year had an increased risk of CUD (relative risk (RR), 3.70; 95% CI, 2.30-5.96) compared to those who used cannabis for fewer than 300 days per year.
- Older men had a higher risk of CUD than older women (RR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.12-2.55), as did those with a history of arrest and lifetime detention compared to those without (RR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.07-2.37) and those with a mental illness in the past year compared to those without (RR, 2.93; 95% CI, 1.85-4.65). Past-year use of tobacco (RR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.04-2.20) or non-cannabis drugs (RR, 3.22; 95% CI, 2.15-4.84), smoking as a mode of cannabis use (RR, 4.94; 95% CI, 2.39-10.23), and use of cannabidiol or products hemp-based products in the last 30 days. (RR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.12-2.57) were each linked to a higher risk of CUD. An annual income of $50,000 to $74,999 (RR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.87) or ≥ $75,000 (RR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.64) vs less than $20,000, and a cancer diagnosis in the past year (RR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.18-0.89) were each linked to lower risk of CUD.
IN PRACTICE
“It is important to recognize that any psychoactive substance, including cannabis, can lead to a harmful pattern of consumption, including among older adults,” said lead author Benjamin H. Han, MD, associate professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in a press release.
“Screening for cannabis use, treatment for cannabis use disorder, and additional interventions to prevent worsening severity are needed to minimize cannabis-related harms among older U.S. adults,” the authors wrote.
SOURCE
The study was published online September 28 in Dependence.
BOUNDARIES
The study was limited by reliance on self-reported cannabis use leading to potential bias, reliance on self-reported criteria for CUD rather than structured diagnostic interviews, potential survey fatigue among older respondents, exclusion of institutionalized older adults, inability to distinguish narrower age subgroups (e.g., 65 to 74 years versus 75 years or older), and lack of power to identify some correlates of CUD.
DISCLOSURES
The study was funded by the UC San Diego Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. One author reported consulting for the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program; the other authors reported no conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
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