By Peter Grinspoon, Harvard Medical School
Older adults are now the fastest-growing segment of cannabis users in the United States. Approximately 25.8 percent of medical cannabis patients are 65 or older, and 34.5 percent fall between ages 50 and 65. In clinical practice, this shift reflects seniors seeking relief from chronic pain, anxiety, and insomnia—and an exit from polypharmacy, the accumulation of traditional pharmaceuticals that often carry more side effects than benefit.
Fifty years of "War on Drugs" misinformation have left much of the medical establishment ill-equipped to counsel patients on cannabis. Without adequate clinical guidance, patients frequently turn to dispensary staff with no medical training for advice.
My interest is both professional and deeply personal. When my brother Danny died of childhood leukemia, my parents illegally obtained cannabis for him in the early 1970s to counter the nausea, vomiting, and wasting caused by chemotherapy. It allowed him to eat, maintain his weight, and participate in his life during his final year. My father, Dr. Lester Grinspoon—a cannabis scholar at Harvard Medical School—used cannabis in his 80s and 90s to manage chronic pain and cancer-related symptoms, preserving a quality of life that would otherwise have been impossible. For 25 years, I have helped thousands of patients incorporate medical cannabis into their care safely and effectively.
Cannabis is not a cure-all. It does not work for every patient, and those new to it may experience dizziness, balance problems, and short-term memory effects at higher THC doses. A modest percentage of users develop dependency. In context, however, when used with proper guidance and a "start low, go slow" approach, cannabis typically presents fewer harms than many drugs routinely prescribed to seniors. Unlike common pharmaceuticals, it does not damage the liver or kidneys, cause gastric ulcers, produce chronic constipation, or contribute to dementia development.
"The ultimate goal of medicine isn't just to add years to a person's life, but to add quality and vitality to those final years. Medical cannabis can be a profoundly helpful tool in this journey."
Dr. Peter Grinspoon is an addiction specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of "Aging Well with Cannabis: Feel Better, Live Better and Sleep Better with Marijuana and CBD."
