Cannabis Use Among Older Adults: New York City Survey Shows Recreation and Relief Often Overlap

Older adults use cannabis for more than one reason. Some want to relax or enjoy themselves. Others hope to sleep better, ease tension, or manage pain. A new survey of New Yorkers age 65 and older captures that range of experiences—and gives us a reminder that honest cannabis education has to include both potential benefits and risks.

National NORML brought this study to our attention in its September 24 report, “Survey: Older Urban Adults Frequently Report Using Cannabis for Recreational, Therapeutic Purposes.” We appreciate the national team’s continued work making cannabis research accessible. Please read NORML’s original article for its reporting and links. What follows is Suncoast NORML’s take on why these findings matter.

What did the older adult cannabis survey find?

Researchers surveyed 315 adults age 65 and older in New York City, recruiting primarily in public parks and outside older adult centers. Of those surveyed, 22.2% reported using cannabis in the past year. Respondents described multiple reasons for using it:

Reported reason among past-year cannabis users	Share
To get high	60.0%
To relieve tension	55.7%
To help with sleep	52.9%
To relieve chronic pain	30.0%

Those answers can overlap. A person who uses cannabis to unwind may also be trying to sleep. Calling one reason “recreational” and another “therapeutic” does not always reflect how people actually make decisions.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Its authors also reported dry mouth and drowsiness among respondents who used cannabis, and their screening found signs consistent with cannabis use disorder in nearly a third of that subgroup. This was a screening result within a small survey, not a diagnosis of every older adult who uses cannabis.

What does the 22% figure mean?

It describes this group of 315 respondents. Because researchers approached people in selected public locations, the survey was not designed to measure the rate of cannabis use among all older New Yorkers, all seniors, or Floridians. It also cannot tell us whether cannabis effectively treated the symptoms participants mentioned. These were self-reported reasons for use, not clinical outcomes.

That distinction matters. We can listen to older adults when they describe why they use cannabis without turning a local survey into a national estimate or a medical promise.

Why this conversation matters in Florida

Older adults deserve straight answers and room to discuss cannabis without stigma. That includes being candid with a healthcare professional about cannabis use, especially when other medications, balance, alertness, or chronic health conditions are part of the picture. Better education and more research help people make informed choices.

National NORML has done the legwork to bring this research into the public conversation. Read the original NORML report here, then explore the published study for the researchers’ full methods, findings, and limitations.

Quick answers

How many older adults in the survey reported using cannabis? Seventy of 315 respondents, or 22.2%, reported use in the past year.

Why did they say they used it? The most common reported reasons included getting high, relieving tension, improving sleep, and relieving chronic pain. People could report more than one reason.

Does this prove one in five seniors nationwide use cannabis? No. The study surveyed people recruited at specific New York City locations and does not provide a national or citywide population estimate.

Source and credit: This article responds to National NORML’s September 24, 2026 coverage of Han and colleagues’ research in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Please support NORML’s original reporting by reading and sharing it.