But some older adults may be unaware of the strength of today’s weed, and little is known about the health effects of legalizing edible cannabis on older adults — the age group with the largest growth in overall cannabis use a year after dried cannabis flower was legalized in Canada, Stall said.
Jamie Grill/Tetra images RF/Getty Images“There’s a bit of an age-related bias that many health care practitioners, and frankly society, hold that older adults are not using drugs.
During the eight-year study period, there were 2,322 emergency department visits for cannabis poisoning in older adults who were age 69 on average.
Products older adults intentionally use should have dosing information with specific guidance for older adults, “recognizing that the amount of drug they may need is a lot less than younger populations,” Stall said.
Health care providers should also have open and judgment-free conversations with older adults about cannabis use and its benefits and risks, he added.
Persons:
edibles, Nathan, Jamie Grill, “, ”, —, Lona Mody, Sharon K, Inouye, weren’t, Amanda Sanford Hickey, Ann Arbor . Inouye, Arthur Marcus, ” Mody
Organizations:
CNN, Sinai Health, Getty, Ontario Ministry, Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Aging, for Aging Research, Harvard Medical School
Locations:
Canada, —, Sinai, Ontario, Ann Arbor, Boston