Seniors’ interest in cannabis flaring up
Care homes requesting info sessions for residents
High interest in marijuana among older B.C. residents has them packing into cannabis 101-type information sessions at seniors centres to learn more about the newly legalized drug.
Terry Roycroft, the head of Vancouver-based Medical Cannabis Resource Centre Inc., a private organization that provides guidance on medical use of cannabis, has been speaking to seniors for several years about marijuana. But what he’s seeing now is care homes and seniors centres proactively reaching out and requesting information sessions.
Roycroft is now partway through a series of such talks across the province.
“A lot of these seniors went through the flower power, the ’60s, and so they’re familiar kind of with cannabis. But only in the old forms, the weak products that were available back then,” he said.
There’s a lot to know now, like the differences between delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), the effects of indica versus sativa, and the benefits of delivery methods like smoking, vaping and ingesting. There are also considerations around possible interactions between cannabinoids and prescription drugs, say experts in pharmacology.
Roycroft said part of what’s driving interest is the children of aging adults telling their parents, “Hey, mom, dad, you’ve been on anti-inflammation, you’ve been on painkillers for years, they can’t give you anymore because you’ve reached your maximum dosages (or are having stomach or liver issues). Here’s an alternative.’”
One of the key bits of information Roycroft runs through is the difference between THC and CBD. Unlike THC, cannabinoids like CBD won’t get you high. What Roycroft has found seniors most want to know about is how to administer cannabis.
“Nobody really wants to be smoking old-school joints. For people that want to smoke we really recommend vaping … it’s much more under the radar, it doesn’t smell as bad, it’s easy to smoke and you can micro-dose,” he said.
“Now if they don’t want to smoke anything, then we start going down the pills, the patches, the sprays, the creams, all these things are other methods that they can use and not get high.”
While inhaling marijuana produces an almost immediate effect, ingesting it produces a longer, strong effect that takes more time to arrive, according to the Safe Cannabis Guide, a resource developed by the California Cannabis Industry Association.
Angie Gaddy, a spokeswoman for the B.C. Pharmacy Association, said patients on medications need to talk to their pharmacists about interactions between their prescribed drugs and cannabis.
“Pharmacists are in the best position to provide individualized counselling to each patient according to their personal situation,” she said.
B.C. Cannabis Stores warns that combining cannabis with medications can increase the overall effects, and that overusing it can lead to short- and long-term health effects, including psychotic episodes.