Older Veterans Are Using Cannabis More Frequently, Major National Survey Finds

A major national survey is adding new evidence to something many veterans, caregivers and cannabis advocates have understood for years: Cannabis use among older military veterans is not rare, and our health care system needs to be prepared to discuss it honestly.

As first reported by National NORML, researchers examining data from more than 907,000 American adults found that veterans age 50 and older reported different cannabis-use patterns from non-veterans in the same age groups. Older veterans who consumed cannabis also reported using it more frequently.

The findings do not prove why these veterans used cannabis, nor do they establish that cannabis caused any particular health outcome. What they do show is that cannabis is already part of the lives of a meaningful number of older veterans.

Ignoring that reality does not protect veterans. It only makes honest education, productive clinical conversations and evidence-based policymaking more difficult.

What Did the Study Find About Older Veterans and Cannabis?

The peer-reviewed study, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, analyzed Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data collected between 2016 and 2023.

The sample included 907,136 adults between the ages of 18 and 80. Of those surveyed, 114,193—or approximately 12.6 percent—were veterans.

When researchers looked at all age groups together, veterans reported lower rates of past-30-day cannabis use than non-veterans: 9.9 percent compared with 13 percent.

But that topline number hides an important age divide.

Among adults ages 50 to 64, 12.6 percent of veterans reported using cannabis during the previous 30 days, compared with 9.2 percent of non-veterans.

Among adults ages 65 to 80, reported cannabis use was 5.2 percent for veterans and 4.3 percent for non-veterans.

Veterans in these older groups who consumed cannabis also reported using it on more days during the month:

• Veterans ages 50 to 64 reported cannabis use on an average of 18.4 days during the previous month, compared with 15.8 days among non-veterans.

• Veterans ages 65 to 80 reported cannabis use on an average of 17.3 days, compared with 14.5 days among their non-veteran peers.

National NORML summarized the comparison by reporting that veterans ages 50 to 64 were 44 percent more likely to consume cannabis and veterans ages 65 to 80 were 33 percent more likely than comparable non-veterans.

Readers interested in examining the methodology and statistical distinctions can review the full open-access study.

Younger and Older Veterans Showed Very Different Patterns

The age divide may be one of the study’s most revealing findings.

Veterans under age 35 reported cannabis use less frequently than civilians in the same age groups.

Among respondents ages 18 to 24, approximately 11.8 percent of veterans reported past-month cannabis use, compared with 23.6 percent of non-veterans. Among those ages 25 to 34, the figures were 17.4 percent and 20.6 percent, respectively.

Researchers suggested that some younger respondents may still have military or reserve obligations. Because cannabis remains prohibited under federal law and military policy, its use could carry serious professional consequences for those individuals.

Older veterans, by contrast, may be navigating chronic pain, sleep difficulties, post-traumatic stress, depression and other health concerns associated with aging or military service.

That explanation is plausible, but it is not something this particular survey could prove.

The data did not establish whether respondents were using cannabis for medical or adult-use purposes. Researchers also could not determine which symptoms participants hoped to address, what products they used or whether cannabis was effective for them.

That limitation matters. We should not turn a survey measuring prevalence into a clinical claim. We should, however, allow the findings to guide the next round of better questions.

Why Are Veterans Using Cannabis?

The honest answer is that veterans use cannabis for many of the same varied reasons as everyone else—and researchers still need more detailed data.

Separate survey data cited by National NORML found that 39 percent of military veterans said they knew a veteran who used cannabis medicinally. Meanwhile, 75 percent said they would be interested in using cannabis or cannabinoid products as a treatment option if it were available.

There is also emerging evidence involving veterans with post-traumatic stress.

A 2025 observational study reported an association between cannabis use, reduced stress and improved same-night sleep quality among veterans with PTSD. An association is not the same as proof that cannabis is an effective treatment, but findings like these demonstrate why rigorous research is urgently needed.

Veterans deserve more than political talking points from either side of the debate. They deserve controlled research, accurate product information, meaningful conversations with medical professionals and policies that allow the science to develop without stigma getting in the way.

Uninsured Veterans Reported Especially High Rates of Cannabis Use

Another significant finding involved access to health care.

Among veterans surveyed from 2021 through 2023, past-month cannabis use was reported by 33.1 percent of those without health insurance.

That compared with 13.2 percent of veterans whose primary coverage was military-related and 10.6 percent of veterans with other types of insurance.

After researchers adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic factors, uninsured veterans still had more than twice the odds of reporting cannabis use compared with veterans carrying non-military health insurance.

This does not tell us whether uninsured veterans were attempting to manage symptoms, consuming cannabis recreationally or doing both.

But it raises an important question: When conventional care is inaccessible or unaffordable, are some veterans turning to cannabis because the existing health care system has left them with too few practical options?

That question demands further study—not judgment.

Veterans Need Honest Education About Consumption Methods

The study also found that inhalation was more common among veterans who consumed cannabis.

Based on data collected in 2022 and 2023, approximately 90 percent of veteran cannabis consumers reported using an inhaled method. That compared with 83.7 percent of non-veteran consumers.

“Cannabis use” is not one single behavior.

Smoking flower, vaping, dabbing, consuming an edible and using a tincture can involve very different onset times, durations, dosing challenges and potential risks. Older adults may also take multiple prescriptions or live with cardiovascular and respiratory conditions that make individualized medical guidance particularly important.

Patient-centered cannabis education should include discussions about:

• Product type and cannabinoid content

• Dose and frequency of use

• Possible medication interactions

• Route of administration

• Delayed onset times associated with edible products

• Individual health conditions and risk factors

Health care providers must also distinguish between cannabis use and cannabis use disorder instead of treating every consumer as though they have the same needs or level of risk.

If older veterans are using cannabis regularly, refusing to discuss practical harm reduction does not make that use disappear. It simply leaves veterans to navigate those decisions without reliable guidance.

The Federal Cannabis Contradiction Continues to Hurt Veterans

Veterans live under a uniquely frustrating cannabis-policy conflict.

Many reside in states with medical marijuana or adult-use cannabis laws, yet federal prohibition continues to influence military rules, employment decisions, medical research and health care conversations.

That gap creates confusion precisely where clarity is most needed.

Clinicians should be able to ask veterans about cannabis without automatically creating fear or shame. Veterans should be able to answer honestly without worrying that a candid conversation will be used against them. Researchers should be able to investigate cannabis benefits, risks, dosing and long-term outcomes without facing unnecessary federal barriers.

Recognizing that older veterans frequently report cannabis use is not an endorsement of every cannabis product or every pattern of consumption.

It is an acknowledgment of reality—and good public policy begins with reality.

What This Cannabis Survey Does and Does Not Prove

This research was a cross-sectional analysis based on self-reported survey data. It can identify patterns and associations, but it cannot establish cause and effect.

Researchers could not determine:

• Why individual participants used cannabis

• Whether their consumption was medical or recreational

• Which specific cannabis products they selected

• What doses they consumed

• Whether cannabis improved or worsened any symptoms

• How state cannabis laws influenced individual decisions

Participation in the cannabis portion of the survey also varied by state and year. Therefore, the combined figures should not be treated as a snapshot of one particular moment.

Those limitations do not make the study unimportant. Instead, they show researchers where future investigations must go.

We need veteran-specific cannabis studies examining chronic pain, PTSD, sleep, prescription-drug use, quality of life, adverse effects and the differences between inhaled and non-inhaled products.

We also need to understand why older veterans consume cannabis more frequently and whether they have access to reliable, nonjudgmental medical guidance.

Older Veterans Deserve Evidence, Dignity and a Seat at the Table

The central lesson from this research is simple: Veterans are already making decisions about cannabis.

Policymakers and health care providers can either meet them with evidence and respect or continue forcing those decisions into a fog of federal contradiction and social stigma.

Suncoast NORML believes veterans should be included in the cannabis-policy conversation—not spoken about merely as statistics and certainly not treated as collateral damage in a drug war they did not create.

Older veterans deserve accurate information. They deserve honest conversations with their doctors. They deserve research capable of separating legitimate therapeutic potential from unsupported marketing claims. Most importantly, they deserve cannabis policies based on evidence rather than decades-old stigma.

For ongoing reporting about cannabis science, marijuana policy, veterans’ issues and legalization reform, readers should get their cannabis news directly from National NORML.

We also encourage readers to review the original National NORML article that inspired this report and examine the underlying peer-reviewed research.

Suncoast NORML will continue following the science, challenging outdated cannabis policies and advocating for veterans and other patients whose experiences deserve to be heard.