One in nine older people who used cannabis met the criteria for a disorder
What happened
A study published on 28 September 2026 in the journal Addiction has put a number on something clinicians have been quietly worried about for years: problem cannabis use among people in later life. Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine looked at 21,189 adults aged 65 and over who took part in the United States National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2021 and 2024. This is a large, nationally representative survey, so the answers are meant to reflect the whole older population, not just people who come to a clinic. They found that 8.9% of adults aged 65 and over had used cannabis in the past year. Among those who had used it, 11.4% - more than one in nine - met the diagnostic criteria for cannabis use disorder. That is the formal term for a pattern of use that causes problems or gets in the way of daily life. Most of those cases were at the milder end. Of the people who met the criteria, 76% were classed as mild, 20.1% moderate and 3.9% severe. The two criteria people reported most often were spending a lot of time getting hold of cannabis, using it and recovering from its effects (74.4%), and craving it (67.5%). How people used it varied: 65.8% smoked it, 40.5% used edibles or drinks, and 15.4% vaped. Frequency mattered a great deal. People who used cannabis on 300 or more days a year were nearly four times more likely to meet the criteria for a disorder. Mental illness, tobacco use and use of other substances were also linked to higher rates. The lead author was Dr Benjamin Han, an assistant professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Why this matters
The first thing to say clearly is that this is American data, and the legal position in the United Kingdom is completely different. In the UK, cannabis is a Class B controlled drug. Buying it, possessing it or growing it is a criminal offence. Since November 2018 specialist doctors on the General Medical Council specialist register have been able to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products in a small number of situations, but this is tightly controlled and is not the same as the recreational or over-the-counter products sold legally in many US states. So the UK numbers will not be the American ones. What travels across the Atlantic is the biology, and the warning about medicines. Older bodies handle any psychoactive substance differently. The liver and kidneys clear drugs more slowly. Balance is often less steady. Many people in their seventies and eighties are already taking several prescribed medicines, and each one is a chance for an interaction. Earlier research has linked cannabis use in older adults to a higher risk of chronic disease, problems with thinking and memory, falls, cannabis poisoning and cannabis-related visits to emergency departments. Falls are the part that should make everyone pay attention. In older people a fall is not a bruise - it is often a fractured hip, a long hospital stay and a permanent loss of independence. There is also a quieter point in this study. Cannabis use disorder is not a young person's problem that older people are immune to. As Dr Han put it, any psychoactive substance, including cannabis, can lead to a harmful pattern of use, including among older adults.
What the evidence actually says
This is survey research, and it has the strengths and the limits of survey research. The strengths: a very large sample, collected over four years, designed to represent the whole older population rather than a self-selected group. That is much more reliable than asking people who happen to be in a clinic. The limits: it relies on what people say about themselves. Some people under-report, particularly about something that carries stigma. Others may not think of an edible as 'using cannabis' at all. Either way, the true figures could be higher or lower than reported. It is also a snapshot, not a film. The study shows that frequent use and cannabis use disorder occur together. It cannot prove that one caused the other, and it cannot tell you whether someone's low mood came before their cannabis use or followed it. And it describes the United States between 2021 and 2024, in a country where legal cannabis has been widely available to older adults for some years and is often marketed to them for pain and sleep. The UK simply has not had that market. What the study genuinely establishes is scale and pattern: problem use in later life is not rare among older people who use cannabis, it rises sharply with how often someone uses, and it clusters with mental ill health and other substance use.
Qurexa perspective
We deliver prescriptions across Lincolnshire, and a large share of the people we deliver to are over 65 and taking several medicines at once. So the part of this study that lands closest to our work is the medicines part. If someone is using cannabis - whether that is a prescribed cannabis-based medicine, a CBD product bought legally on the high street, or something they would rather not mention - it does not sit in a separate box from their prescriptions. It shares the same body, the same liver and the same blood supply. That matters most with medicines that already cause drowsiness or affect balance: sleeping tablets, strong painkillers, some antidepressants, and some medicines for anxiety. Combining them can make someone sleepier and less steady than either would alone. Pharmacists are not the police. A community pharmacist's job is to keep your medicines working safely together, and the conversation is confidential. If you are not comfortable raising it with your GP, raising it with your pharmacist is a genuinely good alternative - and it is free. If you are over 65 and taking several medicines, you may be entitled to a structured medicines review. Ask your pharmacy or GP practice whether you qualify. It is one of the most useful half-hours available in the NHS and far too few people take it up.
Practical advice
If this is relevant to you or to someone you care for, a few things are worth doing. Keep an honest, written list of everything you take - prescribed medicines, things bought over the counter, supplements, herbal remedies and CBD products. Take it to every appointment. Most medicines problems in older people come from nobody having the full picture. If you use a cannabis product of any kind, tell a health professional. Not to be told off, but so that your other medicines can be checked against it. Be aware of how often, not just how much. This study found frequency was the strongest single signal. Daily or near-daily use is a different thing from occasional use. Watch for the practical warning signs the study measured: spending a lot of the day obtaining it, using it and recovering from it; strong cravings; carrying on despite it causing problems. If you are worried about your own use, or someone else's, the NHS has free, confidential drug treatment services and you do not need a GP referral to contact one. You can find local services through the NHS website. If someone is unsteady on their feet, ask about a falls assessment. Preventing one fall is worth more than treating ten.
What to know
In a US survey of 21,189 adults aged 65 and over, 8.9% had used cannabis in the past year, and 11.4% of those met the criteria for cannabis use disorder - most of them mild. Using on 300 or more days a year raised the odds nearly fourfold. The UK legal picture is different: cannabis is a Class B drug here, and only specialist doctors can prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products. But the biology is the same, and the risks of falls, confusion and drug interactions in older bodies are real. The useful action is not alarm. It is a conversation with a pharmacist or GP, an accurate medicines list, and a medicines review if you take several things at once. Sources: Medical Xpress, 'One in nine older adults who use cannabis may meet criteria for cannabis use disorder', 28 September 2026, https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-older-adults-cannabis-criteria-disorder.html; EurekAlert (University of California San Diego), news release, 28 September 2026, https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/browse?section=med_health; GOV.UK, 'Cannabis-based products for medicinal use', https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cannabis-based-products-for-medicinal-use. This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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