What Happened When a Geriatrics Clinic Started Supervising Older Adults' Cannabis Use
A geriatric primary care clinic embedded a physician-led medical cannabis program and saw 144 visits over 30 months—most patients were older adults with pain and anxiety navigating cannabis without any medical guidance.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Cannabis use among older adults is rising, but most use it without medical supervision—a gap this clinic aimed to fill. The team established a monthly, physician-led medical cannabis certification clinic within an existing geriatric primary care practice.
The model is noteworthy: rather than a standalone cannabis clinic, this was embedded in primary care, where the physicians already knew their patients' full medical histories, medication lists, and goals of care. Pharmacy and nursing support were integrated to address the drug interaction concerns that are particularly acute in older adults taking multiple medications.
Over 30 months (January 2022 to July 2024), 144 visits were conducted. The clinic provided individualized evaluation, safety assessment, medication review, and counseling. The patients' qualifying conditions, medication profiles, and demographic characteristics were analyzed.
The practical significance is the model itself: geriatricians are uniquely positioned to supervise cannabis use in older adults because they already manage polypharmacy, cognitive concerns, fall risk, and the complex interplay of aging-related conditions. The alternative—older adults buying products at dispensaries without medical input—carries real risks that this model addresses.
Key Numbers
144 visits over 30 months. Monthly physician-led clinic. Embedded in geriatric primary care. Included medication review, safety assessment, and counseling. Pharmacy and nursing support integrated.
How They Did This
Retrospective descriptive analysis of a physician-led medical cannabis certification clinic embedded in a geriatric primary care practice. 144 visits over 30 months (Jan 2022–Jul 2024). Evaluated demographics, medical and qualifying conditions, and medication profiles. Support from pharmacy and nursing staff.
Why This Research Matters
RTHC-00185 showed that moderate cannabis use didn't impair cognition in older adults across the dementia spectrum, and RTHC-00167 identified cardiovascular concerns in older cannabis-using veterans. Between cognitive reassurance and cardiovascular caution, older adults need individualized guidance—not one-size-fits-all advice. This clinic model shows how to provide it within existing healthcare infrastructure.
The Bigger Picture
This addresses the clinical implementation gap. RTHC-00186 provided prescribing guidance for CBD in epilepsy, and RTHC-00220 explores pharmacogenomic variability in cannabinoid metabolism among older adults. This clinic brings that evidence to the bedside. The geriatric embedding is particularly smart—older adults account for the fastest-growing cannabis user demographic, and they face unique risks (drug interactions, fall risk, cognitive vulnerability) that require specialized oversight.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Preliminary descriptive data from a single clinic—no outcome measures reported (did patients improve?). No comparison group (were supervised patients better off than unsupervised ones?). The clinic model depends on state-level medical cannabis laws and may not be replicable everywhere. Self-selected patients who sought medical supervision may not represent all older cannabis users. 144 visits over 30 months suggests limited scalability.
Questions This Raises
- ?Do supervised older cannabis users have fewer adverse events than unsupervised ones?
- ?Could this model be replicated in non-geriatric primary care?
- ?What were the most common medication interactions identified during reviews?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Evidence Grade:
- Descriptive implementation report—valuable as a clinical model but provides no efficacy data.
- Study Age:
- Published in 2025 with data from 2022–2024, reflecting the growing demand for supervised cannabis care in older adults.
- Original Title:
- Development and Implementation of a Medical Cannabis Clinic Within a Geriatrics Primary Care Clinic: Preliminary Data.
- Published In:
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2025) — The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is a respected publication focusing on health care for older adults.
- Database ID:
- RTHC-07929
Evidence Hierarchy
Watches what happens naturally without intervening.
What do these levels mean? →Read More on RethinkTHC
- CBD-oil-quality-guide
- anxiety-medication-after-quitting-weed
- cannabis-chemotherapy-nausea
- cannabis-chronic-pain-research
- cannabis-epilepsy-CBD-Epidiolex
- cbd-anxiety-research-evidence
- cbd-for-weed-withdrawal
- cbd-vs-thc-difference
- medical-benefits-of-cannabis
- quitting-weed-before-surgery
- quitting-weed-medication-interactions
- quitting-weed-pregnancy
- quitting-weed-pregnant
- seniors-older-adults-cannabis-risks-medications
- weed-breastfeeding-THC-breast-milk
- cannabis-and-fibromyalgia-evidence-dosing
- cannabis-and-carpal-tunnel-nerve-pain
- cannabis-and-migraines-prevention-treatment
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-07929APA
Weaver, Ryan; Velez, Brian; Weissberger, Michael L; Zimmerman, Kristin M. (2025). Development and Implementation of a Medical Cannabis Clinic Within a Geriatrics Primary Care Clinic: Preliminary Data.. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.70217
MLA
Weaver, Ryan, et al. "Development and Implementation of a Medical Cannabis Clinic Within a Geriatrics Primary Care Clinic: Preliminary Data.." Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.70217
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Development and Implementation of a Medical Cannabis Clinic ..." RTHC-07929. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/weaver-2025-development-and-implementation-of
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.