Stoned California Seniors Headed to ER's By the Thousands: UCSD Study

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According to the study conducted by the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, just 366 Californians over the age of 65 visited ER's in 2005 for cannabis-related concerns. By 2019, that figure had skyrocketed nearly 3200%, when 12,167 seniors made trips to emergency rooms.

While a law was passed by the state way back in '96 approving the use of medical marijuana, a second law was passed in 2003 clarifying the legislation prior to its use becoming more widespread. Recreational use of marijuana was approved by state voters in 2016. It's worth noting that the study shows that, while ER visits spiked between 2013-17, they plateaued in 2017, the year weed became legally available for recreational use, so legalization does not appear to be connected to an increase in ER visits by seniors for cannabis-related issues.

“Many patients assume they aren’t going to have adverse side-effects from cannabis because they often don’t view it as seriously as they would a prescription drug,” said Dr. Benjamin Han, a geriatrician who authored the study. “I do see a lot of older adults who are overly confident, saying they know how to handle it — yet as they have gotten older, their bodies are more sensitive, and the concentrations are very different from what they may have tried when they were younger.”

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