Seniors are Canada's fastest-growing cannabis users

When people picture a cannabis user, they rarely picture a 70 year old. The data says they should. No age group in Canada has taken up cannabis faster than seniors, and most of them are using it for reasons that have nothing to do with getting high.

The numbers

The growth is striking. The share of Canadians aged 65 and older who report using cannabis climbed from about 1% in 2012 to roughly 10% by 2022. In raw terms, more than 400,000 seniors reported using cannabis in a three-month period in 2019, about ten times the figure from 2012. Younger adults still use more overall, but no group is growing anywhere near as fast.

Mostly for medical reasons

This isn’t a wave of recreational experimentation. National survey data suggests that about half of older users take cannabis exclusively for medical reasons, with roughly another quarter using it for both medical and recreational purposes. The common threads are sleep, chronic pain, and appetite, the same reasons a lot of people first talk to their doctor about it.

Why the caution matters

Here is the part that deserves real attention. Older bodies process cannabis differently, and seniors are far more likely to be taking other medications that cannabis can interact with. Cannabis-related emergency-room visits among older adults have risen sharply since legalization, often from taking too much, especially with edibles, where the effects are delayed and easy to misjudge.

None of that is a reason to avoid it. It is a reason to be careful and informed:

• Start low and go slow. A 2.5 mg edible dose is plenty to begin with. Wait a full two hours before considering more.
• Talk to a doctor or pharmacist, especially about interactions with existing prescriptions. This is the single most important step.
• Be extra careful with edibles, where a delayed onset leads people to take a second dose too soon.

If you or an older family member is curious, our guide to cannabis and seniors covers it in depth, along with starting doses for edibles and a first-timer’s guide that applies at any age.

Sources

• Statistics Canada, National Cannabis Survey
• CBC, Cannabis use among seniors rising, and so are related ER visits
• Health Canada, Canadian Cannabis Survey