Are you a senior citizen who experiences regular pain? If so, have you ever considered medical cannabis as a treatment? Plenty of doctors now recommend cannabis – including well known celebrity physician Dr. Oz. He thinks you should give cannabis a try if your doctor normally recommends it as a pain treatment.

Seniors represent the smallest demographic group (based on age) among marijuana users. Just 3% of those 65 and older use marijuana. It is probably safe to say that similar numbers would be observed if the focus were exclusively on medical cannabis. Seniors just aren’t as likely to use cannabis as their younger counterparts.

More Doctors Are on Board

Dr. Oz’s most recent comments represent yet another change of position for the well-known celebrity and former political candidate. In the past, he has both favored cannabis reform and cautioned against the use of cannabis as a medicine. Now he seems to be in favor of both. He is not alone.

Since California led the charge to legalize medical cannabis back in the 1990s, more doctors have gradually been willing to take a look. Their numbers have grown along with the number of states that have legalized medical cannabis. It is no longer hard to find a doctor who openly supports medical cannabis.

As for pain, Dr. Oz correctly points out that the data is a mixed bag. Some studies support medical cannabis as a legitimate pain treatment. Others show that its efficacy is either limited or completely nonexistent. So what is a patient supposed to do? According to Oz, seniors should try it under the care of a supportive doctor. The worst that could happen is that it does not work.

An Alternatives to Opioids

It is important to note that the vast majority of recognized medical cannabis patients use cannabis to address pain. That is certainly the case in Utah, where Cedar City’s Zion Medicinal says that more than two-thirds of Beehive State medical cannabis patients cite chronic pain as their qualifying condition.

When you consider some of the traditional treatments for chronic pain, medical cannabis suddenly seems attractive. Consider cannabis instead of prescription opioids. Dr. Oz has made that comparison himself in the past.

This country has been embroiled in an opioid crisis for more than a decade. Despite our best efforts to get a handle on things, people are still dying from opioid overdoses. Police offices are still carrying naloxone (Narcan) and emergency room doctors and nurses are still being trained to identify overdose symptoms. It is a real problem that seemingly won’t go away.

Perhaps the solution is to stop prescribing opioids altogether. Maybe we should stop producing them, too. If medical cannabis can alleviate pain just as well, and be less dangerous at the same time, there doesn’t seem to be any point to continuing the opioid experiment. That experiment has clearly failed.

Overcoming Negative Connotations

It seems to me that seniors may be reluctant to utilize medical cannabis for pain due to the negative connotations associated with it. Yes, medical cannabis is marijuana. But it isn’t marijuana being utilized for recreational purposes. Medical cannabis is a treatment for a specific medical condition. It really is no different than any other prescription medication.

If you are a senior struggling with chronic pain and your current treatments just aren’t working, medical cannabis may be an option. Check with your doctor. If it is legal in your state and your doctor is willing to recommend it, why not give medical cannabis a try? It might turn out to be the best thing for you.