By Michelle Bandur
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ISLETON, California (KCRA) — The face of who you may imagine using cannabis is changing. It’s not just the younger crowd anymore, and the new users have more wrinkles.
More seniors are turning to cannabis for connection, fun and medical reasons.
Some seniors at the Trilogy retirement community in Rio Vista use cannabis for both recreational and medical purposes, with monthly trips to a nearby dispensary becoming a popular event. They’ve created a health and wellness group called “The 420 Club.”
On the 20th of every month, retired residents, ranging in age from 66 to 91, board the Delta Breeze bus for a trip to Isleton, which they affectionately call the “Cannabus.”
Jax Eubanks, owner of Delta Boyz Dispensary, looks forward to the monthly visits from the Rio Vista group. She said most of their customers are senior citizens.
“I wanted to offer something to the senior population, so I call it my ‘420 hour,’ my senior hour,” she said. Eubanks offers goodie bags and educational information to the group.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that marijuana use among Americans aged 65 and older increased by 46% between 2021 and 2023.
Tom Watson, 75, who founded the 420 Club, said he’s not surprised by the higher numbers.
“I like to get high every night, primarily for my insomnia. It helps me sleep,” he said. “But I’m not like your old typical hippie sitting around smoking a joint all the time.”
He said there are new products and club members want to learn and try new things, even in their older age.
“It’s all educational. We talk about the benefits of cannabis for any ailment you can think of,” Watson said.
Newest member Randi Hope didn’t start using marijuana until her 70s. She doesn’t want to smoke it.
“I bought two tinctures because I like tinctures,” she said. “I know exactly how much I’m getting.”
She enjoys the camaraderie and learning from the employees at the dispensary.
“You get to this age, everything hurts. It definitely helps with the pain,” Hope said.
Eubanks said the elderly are turning to alternative ways to treat their ailments.
“People use it for sleep, chronic pain, chronic disorders. We have people that have Parkinson’s disease that come to us, Alzheimer’s, dementia,” she said. “Those people really just need help because they’ve been failed by the traditional medical world.”
But some researchers are sounding the alarm.
Dr. Leila Mohammadi is a cardiologist and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. She advises caution for older adults using cannabis.
Mohammadi recently published a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.
The three-year-long clinical study tested healthy 18 to 50-year-olds who smoked marijuana or ingested edibles three times a week.
Researchers discovered that long-term cannabis use is associated with vascular dysfunction.
“We were surprised to see how significantly these people have poorer vascular function compared to non-users, like ever users, basically,” Mohammadi said.
She warned that there are more consequences for the aging population using marijuana.
“This person is in higher risk of cardiovascular events, heart attack, stroke,” Mohammadi said. “Their vessels are already damaged.”
Back in Isleton, the 420 Club members enjoy the cannabis cafe at the Delta Boyz Dispensary.
“I only have to take two or three hits and I feel great,” Watson said.
Bob Ecker is the youngest member of the club at age 66.
“I think it’s wonderful that we can smoke and have fun, not hurt anybody and just enjoy it.”
Richie Goldstein helps organize the monthly trips and meetings.
“It’s kept me pretty young at 79,” he said.
He noted his first experience with cannabis was smoking a joint at a civil rights demonstration 60 years ago.
The UCSF study also found that eating THC edibles puts stress on the heart.
Mohammadi said they plan to focus their next study on seniors’ marijuana use, with the 420 Club members ready to participate.
This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.
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