Would you use cannabis if it improved your health? Absolutely no one I know who is aging, which truthfully is everyone, has answered “No” to this question. Even the straightest, presently non-consuming, never-has-consumed law-abiding friends have not crossed cannabis off their list of potential remedies for enhanced aging.
The legal cannabis industry is expected to reach $24 billion within the next seven years. Health and wellness dollars will figure prominently in these numbers and is especially of interest to baby boomers. This market growth will not only bring diversity in product offerings, but more product choices will bring changes in baby boomer consumer attitudes and behavior. What is true is baby boomers will need to answer the question would they use cannabis if it improved their lives as they are aging.
No one understands this better than the female baby boomer who will lead the growth of several brands when it comes to consumer decisions. So even though she may not now fully understand the lingo associated with various flower strains or the differences between the quality of the CBD brands offerings, she will dominate the consumer spending decisions for most households.
The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs noted “Research about the patterns and consequences of cannabis use in baby boomers, in particular, is needed, since use is high in this birth cohort and is expected to continue to increase,” adds Dr. Silvia Martins, an associate professor of epidemiology at the school and senior author of the study.“Moreover, significant increases in non-daily cannabis use among adults 65 and older defy perceptions that older adults do not use cannabis, although daily use in this age group remains rare.”
While this conclusion is based upon the sample the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs used, here are five reasons I believe baby boomers will be more inclined to accept cannabis into their health and wellness regimens.
- The hints of a coming convergence of opinion between medical authorities and politicians stressing the medicinal benefits of cannabis are already here. Situated as a pot over pills argument, this is a handy way to remember the pros and cons of Sanjay Gupta’s change of opinion, based upon his five-year search for information that brought him to the conclusion that pot is preferable to pills. The public will follow this trend.
- The decline of the stigma associated with cannabis will permit boomers who have quietly indulged recreationally over past 50 years privately to now come out of the shadows and allow them to make better decisions about their lives authentically.
- Knowledge about the science of the plant allows users to fine-tune treatments for themselves. No more seeds and stems. Consumers can consume the same strain or from the same strain family for consistent treatment just as they would a prescription.
- Data exists to demonstrate baby boomers buy certain categories of product, which proves boomers are not only willing to try different methods of use but boomers also prefer and will lead one category in the market over another.
- Baby boomers sit in the middle of the cultural sea change having been here before when it comes to the acceptance of plant medicine. This knowledge may not have been lost.