r/eldertrees • u/rachel_nuggmd • May 29 '26
Are attitudes toward medical cannabis changing among older adults?
One thing we’ve noticed recently is that medical cannabis conversations don’t seem nearly as age-specific as they used to.
A lot more older adults seem open to discussing things like:
- sleep
- stress
- recovery
- quality of life
- mental wellness
without the same level of stigma that existed years ago.
We recently covered a study looking at mental health outcomes among seniors in states with medical cannabis access, and thought the broader conversation around aging + cannabis was interesting:
https://www.nuggmd.com/blog/study-finds-seniors-mental-health-improves-with-medical-cannabis-availability
Curious whether others here have noticed attitudes shifting among older generations, too.
•
u/Acceptable-Bat-9577 May 29 '26
Military veterans are a big part of changing that stigma. Veterans have been figuring it out and so are the people who support and love those veterans.
•
u/RealKingMidas May 30 '26
There are still plenty of veterans that cannot access or receive their benefits because of a positive piss test.
•
u/Acceptable-Bat-9577 May 30 '26
It can limit some of your options. Since the crackdown on the military overprescribing opioids, these days they often give out crap for pain meds. So, you gotta weigh what works better for you in that case.
•
u/foxyfree May 30 '26
I live in a 55+ community and you can smell weed in the air most days
•
u/rachel_nuggmd Jun 01 '26
That's beautiful, they're living their best lives. Do you find the 55+ crowd fairly pro-weed, or are they more subtle about it when actually discussing it? I know plenty of closet stoners that are older, is why I ask lol
•
u/OregonTripleBeam May 30 '26
Nearly every senior citizen in my family uses cannabis for medical reasons, including many who considered it to be 'dope' for most of their lives. All of them are now passionate cannabis advocates within their peer social circles.
•
u/rachel_nuggmd Jun 01 '26
It's a beautiful thing, to see minds change! Glad to hear they're advocates now. I bet it might even be a little frustrating seeing how open they are to it now compared to how negative they used to be!
•
u/snark42 Jun 01 '26
I think this is the main thing that changed. Everyone 55+ knows someone who uses cannabis for pain, sleeping, etc. now and it allowed the negative stigma that many had to change since it's being openly discussed.
•
u/mel2000 May 29 '26
Curious whether others here have noticed attitudes shifting among older generations, too.
Boomers literally started the cannabis revolution in the 1960's. They deserve credit for the relaxation of cannabis laws in the first place.
•
u/rachel_nuggmd Jun 01 '26
They started the revolution, for sure, but they were also the generation first hit by the reefer madness propaganda, so plenty of them are still so hesitant to even try it. Absolute props to the boomers who helped kick off this revolution, though, you're totally right!
•
u/mel2000 Jun 03 '26
but they were also the generation first hit by the reefer madness propaganda
False. The Reefer Madness movie was made in 1932. That was long before today's boomers were born. Once again, today's boomers started the relaxed pot culture and sexual revolution of today. There was no reefer madness in the 1960's although it had not yet been legalized.
LSD culture was also started at that time. Watch the movies, The Trip (1967) for an LSD themed movie of that time, and watch Easy Rider (1969) for a cannabis themed movie of that time, to see how liberated today's boomers were toward sex and drugs.
•
u/snark42 Jun 03 '26
This is all true, but it was only a small portion of the boomer culture, not everyone was a hippie. If everyone was a hippie cannabis would have been legalized in the 70s instead of Nixon cracking down.
And Regan really brought back the reefer madness with the war on drugs in the 80s.
•
u/mel2000 Jun 03 '26
If everyone was a hippie cannabis would have been legalized in the 70s
I don't think you were around in the late 1960's.
•
u/snark42 Jun 03 '26
No, but my non-hippie parents and all their friends were. They were very anti-drug. Think Red from that 70s show.
There's a reason NORML wasn't successful in the 70s, Keith Stroup told me all about it while super high one time.
•
u/tonevizion May 30 '26
the cbd wave was a quiet bridge for a lot of older folks too. it was federally legal, sold next to vitamins at the cvs, framed as wellness instead of getting high. once they tried it for sleep or joint pain and realized it did not turn them into a 70s movie stereotype, the leap to actual thc gummies for the same problems got way smaller. dispensaries being storefronts you walk into with your insurance card vs meeting some guy in a parking lot did most of the rest
•
u/wildgreengirl May 30 '26
lol i wish my insurance or even FSA would cover my medical weed 💀
•
u/tonevizion May 30 '26
yeah cant happen federally yet bc still schedule 1, and HSA/FSA rules ride on that. a few states (NJ, NY, MN) have workers comp boards reimbursing medical use but private insurance is still a wall. descheduling actually moving under the new admin push is the only thing that cracks it open imo
•
u/rachel_nuggmd Jun 01 '26
Medical cannabis is actually officially a Schedule 3 now! But there's a tonnnn in the air still for what that even means and what that's going to do for patients. It does give me hope that insurance will soon be able to cover medical weed in some capacity. Or medical cannabis evaluations, or something! Keeping my fingers crossed for progress.
You're right though, CBD helped a lot of the older folks get comfortable with it. My Papa was a great example. He was so staunchly against weed, but ended up needing to take CBD for the nausea he got from chemo. It didn't make my Nana and Papa pro-weed but it did make them more open to understanding its medical value, at least
•
u/tonevizion Jun 01 '26
That Papa story is exactly the pattern - chemo nausea pulls families into the conversation who never would have looked otherwise, and they end up open to the medical value even if they stay skeptical of recreational. Schedule 3 should technically unlock FSA/HSA eventually but insurance moves slow. Hopeful but cautious.
•
u/PaleExtreme7399 Jul 04 '26
Dispensaries have been popping up like crazy around the 55+ communities in my area. I'd say attitudes have changed in our demographic, for sure.
•
u/BarneyFife516 Jun 08 '26
Medical cannabis is nothing more than the state and regional governments attempt to regulate a plant that is easier to grow than strawberries and bamboozle the constituents into thinking that they have their interest in mind.
Meanwhile the Governments continue to oppressed those least capable of pushing back, namely brown people and poor people. Using tax monies to arrest , coerce lower economic classes, while the “Affluent” carries on is the crime.
The solution to this is not to play into their game.
Grow your own, share freely what you grow- the state cares more about revenue and taxes than you smoking dope at home. Prices will fall to reflect reality.
A top shelf ounce of weed should be no more than $100 or so an ounce. A grower following basic instructions can produce about 30 or so dried ounces in a year in a 2x4 tent at home.
•
u/gameryamen May 29 '26
Growing up, it was understood that if the wrong person found out that my parents smoked weed (responsibly, away from us) they'd be hauled off to jail. Now my adult friends regularly talk about which dispensaries they prefer. We still keep it away from the kids, but it's not so hidden anymore. There's cannabis ads in half the podcasts I listen to.