[ad_1]
Kyle Johnson, 68, swears by cannabis Martha Macbeth, 63, uses it to soothe her sciatica and get a good night's sleep
The two Californians are part of a new wave of senior Americans who are turning to cannabis to relieve pain as the craze for the drug spreads across the country and several states legalize it.
"They come en masse with," said Macbeth, a consultant at Octavia Wellness, a San Francisco start-up that addresses the older communities of the state, which legalized recreational marijuana and is the largest market for legal cannabis.
The interest is such, she says, that Tupperware-type presentations to present cannabis products in retirement homes are bursting with potential customers with hairs of dullness.
The products include dyes, sprays, edibles and topicals such as lotions and oils "We had a presentation in San Jose (Northern California) recently and there were 400 people who wanted to go there", Mr. Macbeth said, "We were overwhelmed."
Several studies indicate that seniors are the fastest-growing US population and that if the trend continues, it may outpace generation in terms of weed consumption.
From Arthritis to Insomnia
Marijuana use among Americans aged 65 and over increased by 250% between 2006 and 2013, according to the 39; National Survey on Drug Use and Health
. Marijuana use among adults aged 50 and over between 2006 and 2016.
In California, one of the 29 US states that have legalized marijuana for medical purposes, the industry is expected to generate $ 6.5 billion in sales by 2020.
Experts say that the older crowd is turning to drugs to treat a host of ailments – from arthritis to neuropathy, insomnia and chronic pain – and to avoid the side effects associated with prescription medications, including opioids. 20 different prescription medications a day … and all too often, these drugs have an impact at first and then disappear, "said Beverly Potter, author of" Cannabis for Seniors, "a book that helps The Elderly to Navigate the New
Potter said that she was inundated with requests for advice at conferences and warned her audience against the belief that marijuana is the drug of choice for all ills , especially in light of little medical research on the effects of the drug. illegal at the federal level.
Yet she strongly believes that cannabis is, in many cases, a better alternative than traditional pain relievers or sleeping pills that can leave patients with bleeding or intoxicated ulcers
slow & # 39;
"My advice to people who want to try it is the same one that we hear everywhere: start slowly and go slowly," Potter told AFP. "It's not a matter of becoming high, she learned to study your body."
She said that the effects of medical marijuana depend on whether the drug is consumed as edible – biscuits or gelatin – or in the form of dyes or sticks.
Barbara Blaser, a registered nurse for 50 years and now head of clinical services at Magnolia Wellness, a northern California marijuana dispensary, said the clients she meets do not seek the buzz of their youth, but rather a new life.
"Some people say to me, 'I just want to be able to work in the garden, but my knees hurt,'" said Blaser, 72, who started using marijuana as a result of the treatment. ;a serious illness. Jaded, cannabis can change your life and give it back to you, "she adds.
And as social perceptions of drug change and associated stigma evaporate, Blaser predicts that its use as an alternative medicine will become more commonplace.
Take K yle Johnson, who recently founded a cannabis club with her neighbor Mary Lou Molinaro in their retiree community in Brentwood, north of San Francisco.
"We started the club in March and at the first meeting, 160 people came in. They were worried about letting someone know that they were consuming medical cannabis or that they were interested, "said Johnson, who uses cannabis to relieve back pain and insomnia
" Now, people regularly stop one of us. Oh, I can ask you this question, I can not sleep, I have arthritis pain or whatever and we help them as best as we can, "she added.
Molinaro, 67 years old, says she shows herself Someone who equates cannabis with stoning.
"I say: look at me, do I look like me?" to walk upstairs? "she exclaimed." In most cases, if you use the right product and see what works best for you, you will find relief and will not look like a head. of stone. " NVG
Tourists ride for the cannabis route in Morocco
A small city of Estonia puts cannabis on its flag
[ad_2]
Source link
