A significant shift in the social and medical landscape of the United States is becoming increasingly visible within its aging population, as a new analysis reveals that marijuana use among older adults has reached an all-time high. According to a comprehensive study led by researchers from the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at the NYU School of Global Public Health, approximately 7 percent of adults aged 65 and older now report using cannabis within the past month. This finding, which highlights a rapid and pronounced upward trend in consumption, suggests that the traditional image of the cannabis user is being replaced by a demographic that is increasingly older, more affluent, and more educated than in previous decades.
The research, which was recently published in the prestigious journal JAMA Internal Medicine, provides a detailed look at how the profile of the American cannabis user has transformed over a remarkably short period. Beyond the mere increase in the number of seniors using the drug, the study identifies a shift in the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of these individuals. Specifically, the data points to a sharp rise in use among older adults who are college-educated, married, and female. Furthermore, the findings indicate that those with higher household incomes are now among the most likely to report current use, a reversal of previous trends that often associated substance use with lower socioeconomic brackets.
Dr. Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the study’s senior author, noted that while the overall increase in use is striking, the nuances within the demographic shifts are equally important for public health officials to understand. He emphasized that cannabis use among older adults is continuing to climb, but the internal dynamics of who is using the drug are moving in new directions. As an affiliated researcher with CDUHR, Dr. Palamar suggested that these shifts reflect broader changes in how marijuana is perceived and accessed across different layers of American society.
To arrive at these conclusions, the research team analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, covering the years 2021 through 2023. This period is particularly significant as it follows several years of rapid legislative change across the United States, where a majority of residents now live in jurisdictions where marijuana is legal for either medical or recreational purposes, or both. The study focused specifically on respondents aged 65 and older, asking them about their cannabis consumption habits within the thirty days prior to the survey. This "past-month" metric is defined by researchers as "current" use, providing a snapshot of regular or ongoing consumption rather than occasional or experimental use.
The ability to focus on current use marks a significant methodological advancement for researchers studying this specific age group. Dr. Benjamin Han, an associate professor and associate chief of research in the Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Palliative Care at the University of California San Diego, explained that previous studies were often limited to looking at "past-year" use. This was because, in earlier years, the number of seniors reporting use within a single month was too small to provide statistically significant data. Dr. Han, who served as the study’s first author, noted that the rise in consumption has now reached a threshold where researchers can accurately track current, active users among the elderly for the first time.
