How Are We Still Missing This? The Case for Cannabis as the Most Underrated Tool in Senior Care
The Quiet Revolution We Keep Ignoring
Your joints hurt. Your skin tears. You wake up four times a night. You take medications for sleep, pain, blood pressure, itching, and digestion—and still don’t feel quite right.
This isn’t a rare case. It’s the daily reality for millions of older adults—and it’s been normalized.
But what if this wasn’t inevitable?
What if the real issue isn’t aging—but how we respond to it?
This post is about the silent crisis hiding in plain sight...
TL;DR: What You’ll Learn in This Article
Cannabis in Senior Care: Not Hype. Just Common Sense.
Here’s why it matters—and what we’ve been missing.
The problem isn’t aging. It’s how we treat it.
Sleep, pain, appetite, mood, and skin problems are mismanaged with sedating or risky drugs.
Cannabis offers safer, smarter, symptom-specific care—when used wisely.
Non-intoxicating formats like topicals and tinctures make it easy to start.
The biggest barrier isn’t risk. It’s inertia, stigma, and silence.
Part 1: The Quiet Revolution We Keep Ignoring
The Therapy That Checks Every Box—Except Widespread Acceptance
Your mother’s knees ache every morning. Your grandfather’s skin tears when he pulls on socks. They wake up every two hours to pee, take seven medications before breakfast, and shuffle through the day in a slow-motion fog that no one calls by name—but everyone recognizes.
This is what aging looks like. Or at least, this is what I’ve watched us come to accept.
But what if that quiet, creeping discomfort wasn’t inevitable? What if the body’s natural unraveling could be softened—gently, safely, and affordably—by a tool I’ve seen overlooked for decades?
That tool is cannabis
Not bongs or brownies. Not reckless teenage rebellion. I’m talking about balms for stiff joints, tinctures for sleep, low-dose capsules for anxiety. I’m talking about a science-backed plant that interacts with the body’s own regulatory system—calming inflammation, restoring rhythm, and reducing pain—without the sedation, addiction, or side effects of the medications seniors are routinely prescribed.
And the most shocking part? It’s already helping millions of people. Just not the ones who arguably need it most.
Because somewhere between fear, stigma, and bureaucratic inertia, I’ve watched quietly unfold that cannabis is too controversial for Grandma. Even as we hand her Ambien for sleep, hydrocodone for pain, and diphenhydramine for itching—and still, somehow—I’ve seen us rule out a plant that could relieve all three—without compromising her mind, her mobility, or her dignity.
This isn’t about getting high. It’s about getting helped.
In the pages ahead, I’m going to show you what cannabis can really offer seniors. Not promises, not panaceas—just practical, evidence-informed support for the most common challenges of aging. I’m going to walk you through the hard costs of sticking with the status quo. And I’m going to ask the question no one seems to be asking loudly enough
How are we still missing this?
The Real Problems of Aging—And Why the Solutions Aren’t Working
What We’ve Accepted as ‘Normal’ Is Anything But
Aging isn’t a diagnosis—but you wouldn’t know that by looking at a typical senior’s medication list.
Pain? Here’s ibuprofen. Still hurts? Try opioids.
Sleep trouble? Diphenhydramine. Trazodone. Maybe zolpidem.
Mood low? A daily SSRI, if you’re lucky—or a benzodiazepine, if you’re not.
Add a statin, a diuretic, a proton pump inhibitor, maybe a stool softener to fix what the others caused—and now you’ve got a treatment plan that looks less like care and more like chemical whack-a-mole.
This is the system we’ve built. And it’s quietly failing millions of older adults.
The Hidden Epidemics No One Talks About
I’ve stopped pretending these are just ‘normal parts of aging.’ They’re not. They’re problems we haven’t solved—because we haven’t tried smarter tools.
Sleep fragmentation affects over 50% of people over 65. Not just trouble falling asleep—but waking up repeatedly through the night, often never feeling rested.
Chronic pain—especially in the knees, back, and hands—is reported by more than 70% of older adults. It reduces mobility, confidence, and independence.
Dry, fragile skin leads to constant itching, slow-healing wounds, and frequent infections that often land patients in the hospital.
Restlessness, anxiety, and social withdrawal slowly erode joy, often misread as “grumpiness” or dismissed as inevitable.
Behind each of these symptoms is a cumulative toll—on the body, the psyche, and the daily rhythms of life. Pain limits activity. Restlessness disrupts relationships. Poor sleep makes everything harder.
The System’s Default Response? Sedate and Suppress.
The go-to medical toolkit often isn’t solving these problems—it’s just blunting them.
Sleep medications increase fall risk, cloud cognition, and don’t truly restore rest.
Opioids are dangerous and addictive. Yet they’re still prescribed—sometimes as the only real option offered.
Anticholinergic medications like diphenhydramine (Benadryl), often used for sleep or itching, are associated with memory loss, delirium, and even increased dementia risk in seniors.
Steroid creams, long the default for skin irritation, can thin the skin over time—doing the exact opposite of what frail, aging skin needs.
And none of these medications are fixing the actual cause. They’re managing discomfort by adding layers of complexity—and often, unintended harm.
Caregivers Are Left Holding the Bag
And let’s not forget the people on the front lines of this broken system: adult children, spouses, and in-home aides trying to care for someone who can’t sleep, can’t move easily, and isn’t quite themselves.
When your mother wakes up 4 times a night, that’s your sleep too.
When your father can’t sit still because his back hurts and his skin itches, that’s your afternoon, your appointment rescheduled, your patience tested.
This isn’t just a medical issue. It’s a ripple effect—touching every person connected to the aging adult who’s hurting.
And the worst part?
This isn’t the result of a lack of options.
It’s the result of ignoring one of the best ones.
Our System and Our Seniors Deserve Better
We’ve built a system that too often sedates instead of supports. That stacks prescriptions instead of solving problems. And that treats decline as destiny.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
In Part 2:
I’ll show you what cannabis care really looks like for older adults today—not smoke and stigma, but balms, tinctures, and carefully calibrated care that works with the body to restore rhythm, comfort, and control.
Because the goal isn’t to get high.
It’s to help—safely, sensibly, and with respect for what aging adults actually need.
👉 Read Part 2: “Cannabis Isn’t a Vice—It’s a Smarter Form of Care” - coming in 4 days.
its all broken . The market with the lowest penetration but the highest potential to ease suffering is Cannabis.
Thanks for this, Dr. Kaplan! I'm 77 and have been using various forms of cannabis for at least the past 15 years. I don't have any chronic health conditions (yay!), but use cannabis for sleep -- it's the best! -- and it's also great for anxiety, depression, appetite, random aches and pains. Most medicines, even OTC pain meds, make me deathly ill. Honestly, Medicare should put cannabis in its formulary. So many people would feel better if they knew that it's not about "getting high."