Recent research has shown that cannabis usage in the past or present can affect cognitive performance amongst older adults without dementia.
In many countries, laws have become more lenient and older adults are increasingly turning to cannabis as a treatment for chronic illnesses or recreationally. The proportion of Americans aged 65 or older who use cannabis has quadrupled over the past 20 years.
Some older people have used cannabis for many years. What impact does it have on their cognition?
In a new UK study of tens of thousands of seniors aged ≥60 years, cannabis use patterns were analysed, and cognitive function was assessed. Attention, executive function and processing speed were tested, as well as visual memory, working memory, and visual memory.
The researchers discovered that lifetime cannabis consumers (17%) were better performers in each of the above cognitive domains. The researchers found that current cannabis use is also linked to better working memory. However, the results were contradictory and mixed for those who started using it early, stayed with it longer, or used it more frequently.
The researchers found that the longer the duration of past usage, the greater decline was in processing speed.
The conclusion:
The use of cannabis does not always harm cognition. In some domains, past use has been linked with improved performance and a slower decline. Specific usage patterns (such as longer duration) were however associated with lower outcomes in some domains.
As always, the researchers emphasized that more research is needed.
This is the full report has been published Age and Ageing, the Journal of Ageing and Ageing.
In the last few years there has been an increasing number of publications on seniors using cannabis.
There are warnings from some that the elderly will increasingly end up in the emergency department of hospitals.
Another significant point of concern is “driving high”, with one study finding 20.1 % of seniors driving after cannabis use (DCU) within 2 hours of consumption — which depending on what was consumed could be well within an impairment window.