Study Finds Medical Cannabis Improves Seniors’ Quality Of Life

A new study from researchers affiliated with two midwestern universities has found that the medicinal use of cannabis improves the quality of life of seniors. A report on the research, “Assessing Health-Related Outcomes of Medical Cannabis Use among Older Persons: Findings from Colorado and Illinois,” was published this week in the journal Clinical Gerontologist.

To conduct the study, a team of researchers affiliated with the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa surveyed 139 seniors about their use of medical cannabis and self-reported changes in outcome over a period of one year. The researchers determined that the medicinal use of cannabis by those over the age of 60 showed a positive association in improvements in test subjects’ health-related quality of life (HRQL).

The study revealed a “strong positive association” between the frequency of cannabis use by test subjects and self-reported improvements in pain, health-care utilization, and overall health-related quality of life. The test subjects did not report a statistically significant association with the use of medical cannabis and adverse effects.