(WAND) – An increasing number of senior citizens are smoking pot, according to a new study from New York University.
The study shows cannabis use among adults age 65 and older increased from 2.4 percent to 4.2 percent. The 75 percent increase was between 2015 and 2018.
According to the study, use in subgroups, too, including women, minorities, respondents whose families were higher earning and people struggling with mental health went up.
The survey only asked about the consumption of “marijuana,” “hashish,” “pot,” “grass,” or “hash oil,” but did not ask about vaporized product.
It’s not clear if people are gravitating toward cannabis for medical reasons, or if they are joining the adult use market.
“We believe use will continue to increase as ‘social acceptability’ of weed use increases among older populations. I think the majority of use among older people is for medical reasons, although we need more research to confirm this. I think more older people who use weed are using for things like sleep,” Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and the study’s senior author, told Cannabis Wire.
Palamar also said they don’t believe older people are first time marijuana users. They think more people are feeling comfortable talking about their use.
