A small but growing number of older adults are using marijuana, a trend that worries researchers who say not enough information exists about how pot affects those people.
Abundant research has been done on how the drug affects developing brains, but little is known about the consequences for older users, even as recreational pot has been legalized in a number of states.
Researchers at New York University say pot could pose such health challenges to older users as memory loss and an increased risk of falling.
In a new study, these researchers reviewed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and found a big increase in people older than 50 reporting they had used pot in the past year.
A decade ago, about 2.8 percent said they had done so. In 2013, the rate was about 4.8 percent — a 71 percent jump.
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