Seniors Increasingly Turn to Medicinal Marijuana – The SandPaper

(Photo by Rick Mellerup)

Anne Markel-Crozier, a certified social worker, and Matthew Brasette, an attorney, addressed the crowd at a recent lecture at Stockton University in Manahawkin. Theywere discussing the use of medical marijuana among older adults in New Jersey.

They had plenty to talk about.According to data gathered from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2015 and 2016, about 9 percent of U.S. adults between ages 50 and 64 had used marijuana in the previous year. About 3 percent of people over 65 used pot in that same time period.

In 2013, that same survey showed 7 percent of Americans ages 50 to 64 used marijuana, and only 1.4 percent of people 65 years of age or older had indulged. In fact, seniors are the fastest-growing pot demographic in the country.

Why? Because marijuana, or even CBD products which are required to have less than 0.3 percent THC, the cannabinoid (out of more than 100) in marijuana that gets you high seem to offer a number of health benefits.

Marijuana is widely touted as having beneficial effects on pain, and seniors tend to have more aches and pains than younger people. And marijuana, anecdotally at least, can help with several health conditions.

According to Markel-Crozier, the medical benefits of marijuana include preventing Alzheimers disease, treating glaucoma, relieving arthritis, controlling seizures, easing the pain of multiple sclerosis, soothing tremors from Parkinsons disease, helping with Crohns disease, decreasing anxiety, reducing severe pain and nausea from chemo treatments, and stimulating appetite. It also helps veterans and others suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome.

On the other hand, she said, pot does pose some threats to seniors. It can lead to drowsiness and dizziness, resulting in falls, a huge concern for the elderly population. It can also increase cardiac arrhythmia, decrease blood pressure and affect blood sugar levels.

True, the research remains somewhat limited because marijuana is still listed by the federal government as a Schedule I narcotic that supposedly has no currently accepted medical use and has a high potential for abuse. That puts pot in the same class as heroin, LSD, ecstasy, methaqualone and peyote, and hampers on research.

But medical marijuana use is legal in 33 states, while 11 have legalized recreational use for folks over the age of 21. New Jersey is one of the former and, after a referendum this November, could become one of the latter as well.

New Jersey allows doctors only some doctors, more on that later to recommend pot for Lou Gehrig disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, anxiety, chronic pain related to muscoloskeletal disorders such as fibromyalgia and lupus, chronic pain of visceral origin in other words, pain from internal organs such as the stomach and bladder migraines, MS, terminal cancer, muscular dystrophy, inflammatory bowel disease, Tourette syndrome, seizure disorders including epilepsy, intractable muscular skeletal spasticity, glaucoma, PTSD, positive status for HIV, AIDS and opioid use disorder.

Market-Crozier and Brasette work for the Bratton Law Group, estate and elder care attorneys. Markel-Crozier is the firms director of care coordination. Why were they delivering the lecture? Because getting your hands on medical marijuana in this may be legal, but it certainly isnt easy.

The Process

Is Complicated

First of all, you have to visit a physician who will perform a marijuana evaluation and decide if you warrant a written recommendation. Note it is a recommendation, not a prescription, a difference caused by pots Schedule I status. It is simply a matter, so to say, of legal fine print the written recommendation allows you to legally purchase medical marijuana even though it isnt officially a prescription.

Not all doctors in New Jersey can do that, only the ones registered with the state Department of Health Division of Medicinal Marijuana. Brasette said that as of March 2019, there were almost 1,000 physicians participating in the program, with 48 in Ocean County. Only six, however, have offices in the southern part of the county. They are Paul Chung and Evan Naylor, medical oncologists, and Joseph Lattanzi, a radiation oncologist, in Manahawkin; John Kulin, an emergency medicine doctor with offices in both Little Egg Harbor Township and Manahawkin; Andrew Marino, a family practitioner in Forked River; and another family practitioner, David Rola, in Lanoka Harbor.

The complete list of doctors who are registered with the program can be found on the state Department of Healths Division of Medicinal Marijuana website. According to the DMM, the program now serves over 72,000 patients.

Once you get a doctors recommendation, you must register with the DMM. You can do so on the programs website. It costs most people $100 to register, but only $20 if you are a senior citizen, a military veteran, or qualify for the New Jersey Medicaid program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, N.J. Temporary Disability Insurance benefits, Supplemental Security Income Benefits or Social Security Disability Benefits. The registration is good for two years.

The next step is to find a licensed medical marijuana dispensary, officially called an alternative treatment center. There are only eight throughout the state and none in Ocean County. However, there are two within a relatively short driving distance, both run by the Compassionate Care Foundation Inc., a.k.a The Botanist. One is located at 100 Century Drive in Egg Harbor Township while the other is a satellite on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, 1301 Boardwalk to be exact. The Boardwalk Botanist shop, situated next to a shoe store, just opened on Feb. 22.

The state Department of Health sought applicants last summer so that it can eventually license up to 24 dispensaries throughout the state.

What You

Can Get

Medical marijuana in New Jersey is packaged in quarter-ounce or eighth-ounce denominations. Just how much you can purchase depends on the amount a registered doctor recommended.

The maximum amount allowed is three ounces in a 30-day period unless the patient is terminal, in which case the amount is unlimited.

The Botanist is currently offering a wide variety of products with exotic names such as Blueberry Kush, Mango, The Messiah, White Widow, Pine Tar, Lemon Skunk, Candy Rain and Fire Alien Romulan. It also sells pre-rolled varieties Jack 22, The Prophet and Citrus Sap.

Confused? Dont worry, The Botanist sales staff is experienced and can easily explain the difference among its offerings.

Seniors, though, could be confused, or even unable to drive to Atlantic County. Dont worry, the state allows qualified patients to designate a primary caregiver who can assist them.

The brands, even with their exotic names, are different, and not only in potency and taste. According to Markel-Crozier, different strains of marijuana can be grown that can be genetically guided to treat specific conditions. In other words, marijuana growers can manipulate and cross-breed the elements of marijuana strains down to very specific functions, such as the ability to treat specific symptoms such as nausea, appetite, etc. Thats because as far back as the 1980s, scientists were able to pinpoint the parts of the brain and body that the main chemicals in marijuana interact with. These spots are called cannabinoid (CB) receptors. These receptors are areas in our body that allow the chemicals to attach to them. The chemicals can cause different responses and positive effects to a variety of symptoms.

One problem with medical marijuana: No health plans, including Medicare, Medicaid or any private health plans, will pay for it.

There are stigmas associated with marijuana use as well. Some seniors whom medical marijuana might help with a wide variety of conditions simply dont want to be known as a pothead. They worry it is a gateway drug. And they worry they could become dependent on pot, although Markel-Crozier said studies show only 9 percent of individuals using cannabis will become dependent. That is, she said, significantly lower than those reported for prescription medications such as opioids and benzodiazepines.

Seniors in assisted living and nursing home facilities have significant problems if they want to use medical marijuana, which is why the Bratton law group has become involved with the issue. Remember, the federal government still considers marijuana and CBD products as well a Schedule I drug with not currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. And assisted living and nursing home facilities, as well as hospitals, receive federal funding via Medicare. States are having a hard time figuring out how to rectify this dilemma. Complicating the issue is that such facilities usually have strict smoking policies.

There are some facilities that will allow residents to use, said Markel-Crozier. But there are plenty of such facilities that wont.

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Seniors Increasingly Turn to Medicinal Marijuana - The SandPaper