Cannabinoids and Geriatric Care: A Clinician Guide for Adults 65 and Older (Nationwide Edition, PDF)

In California, cannabis-related ED visits among adults 65+ rose from 20.7 to 395.0 per 100,000 between 2005 and 2019. Yet in a national survey, fewer than 1 in 5 older adults who used cannabis had discussed it with a clinician. This 10-page guide helps you start that conversation and know what to watch for.

Inside:

- Why it matters now: recent US data on use, ED visits and how rarely it gets discussed

- Age-related pharmacology, with geriatric-use notes from FDA labels in one table

- Falls and cognition: what trials, trauma-center data and cohort studies show

- Cardiovascular issues, polypharmacy and sedative load, with interaction pathways to review with a pharmacist

- Conversation openers and monitoring questions (prompts, not a protocol)

- An evidence table for adults 65 and older that is honest about how thin and short-term the data are

- "State rules vary" plus a 50-state + DC table of official program sites (per NCSL, current as of October 2026)

- A clickable contents page and 39 numbered, tagged sources

Built for primary care, geriatrics, pharmacy and nursing teams. No doses, no product picks.

Education only. This guide is a research-navigation aid. It is not medical, legal or prescribing advice. It does not diagnose, prescribe, recommend products, set doses or titration, or give drug-interaction verdicts. Findings are summarized for orientation only. Read the original sources before relying on any of them. Clinical decisions remain with the treating clinician. Confirm all laws and program rules on official state sites. For use with licensed, state-regulated medical cannabis programs and FDA-approved drugs only.

Sources include the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017), Cochrane reviews, studies indexed in PubMed, NIH pages (NCCIH and others), FDA drug labels, the Federal Register, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), and official state program sites. This is an independent guide and is not endorsed by any cited source. Prepared by Annie Romelfanger, author of Medical Cannabis Handbook: A Friendly Guide to Safe, Simple Healing. Last reviewed: October 2026. Corrections: romelfanger@proton.me.