Thursday, August 22, 2013

Seniors and marijuana

It's been reported that seniors are the fastest growing population of medical marijuana users in the U.S. It is being used for a wide variety of ailments including chemotherapy side effects, arthritis, glaucoma, chronic pain and malnutrition. The drug's growth is due to the fact that seniors become increasingly susceptible to the dangerous side effects and growing dependency of multiple prescription medications. 

There is a world of difference between smoking marijuana in your private home and doing it when you move to an assisted living facility, which is regulated by the states and/or the federal government.  In addition to the possible loss of their license, the facility has to answer a number of questions:  Where will marijuana be stored? How do patients know how much to take, and who is going to administer it if they can't do it themselves? Since smoking isn't allowed in most assisted living facilities, how can medical marijuana be used, especially if it infringes on another patient's rights? Who will be able to get it for residents?

No comments: