Marijuana

 NORML -  An estimated seven percent of US adults ages 65 and older acknowledge having consumed cannabis within the past month, according to data published yesterday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.  Investigators reported that those with higher incomes and those seniors suffering from chronic health conditions were most likely to report current cannabis use.

NORML -   State-level marijuana legalization is associated with declines in prescription drug spending, according to data published last week in the journal Health Economics. Researchers affiliated with Bowling Green State University in Ohio and Illinois State University assessed the impact of marijuana legalization laws on prescription drug expenditures among privately insured working-age adults.

They identified pronounced declines in prescription drug expenditures among enrollees of small group insurance plans (plans typically sold to employers with fewer than 50 employees).

“We find that net prescription drug claims in small group insurance markets are reduced by approximately six percent following recreational cannabis legalization,” they determined. “The reduction in claims in the small group market grows stronger in magnitude over time and gains statistical significance during the second full year of legalized cannabis.”