Will be over the age of 65. That means more people requiring more frequent and advanced medical care, which often means more pills. But theres a growing movement in the medical and the Scientific Community thats urging less pills and more plants. They look at marijuana as a potential life changer for those suffering from agerelated conditions like chronic pain, insomnia, anxiety, even alzheimers disease. But does cannabis really work for seniors and is it safe . Over the next hour, cnns dr. Sanjay gupta takes us Around The World as he speaks to skeptics and advocates who are studying cannabis. Sanjay also meets with older users who say their Quality Of Life has quill proved because of marijuana. April 2023. Its a Picture Perfect spring morning near the Southern California coastline. Then well hear from seniorfriendly brands with recommendations and introductioned for you about it. Reporter a scene is unfolding that i can hardly believe. We made our way to laguna woods. This is a Retirement Community around here and im about to do something that i havent done before. Get on this bus which is known as the cannabus. What happens is people who are seniors who may have a hard time actually getting to a dispensary, they get on this bus, they get some education, then theyre taken to the dispensary. Were going to tag along to see how it all goes. So what are we doing today . Whats about to happen here . Well, were going to have some fun. Reporter 72yearold Barbara Oiler is a cannabus veteran. And if that surprises you, it surprises her even more. Sure, i grew up in the 60s. It was weed at the time. You know. And it was something you stayed away from because it was scary. Reporter but as the years went by, her body started to betray her, a bad knee, painful back. Given the choice of opioids or cannabis, her decision was easy. There are so many seniors who know what the value of using cannabis is because at our age the joints, the aches, the pains, the you know reporter its one of the Biggest Challenges of our health care system. There are too many pills. In fact, 1 3 of all americans in their 60s or 70s take five or more Prescription Pills every day. You believe that cannabis can help replace what the medications are 100 . Reporter thats incredible. I truly do. Reporter 56yearold robin savage was more hesitant. This was her first run on the cannabus. Theres such a stigma to it. But i want to be more knowledgeable about the cannabis. So thats why i came today. Reporter you get to know the other people on the bus here . Yes. Reporter have they become friends of yours . Yes. Yes, we do. We have a Cannabis Club. Reporter you have a Cannabis Club . Yes. Reporter what happens at the Cannabis Club . Well, we get together and talk about cannabis. Reporter between 2015 and 2018, cannabis use in seniors over 65 jumped 75 . These are the people who lived through Reefer Madness as well as the war on drugs. Im against legalizing marijuana, even if the commission does recommend it be legalized, i will not follow that recommendation. Older adults represent the fastestgrowing Consumer Group of cannabis in the United States. Reporter a lot has changed since 2013 when i first met Cannabis Pioneer and harvard professor dr. Stacey gruber. While she doesnt appear to have aged much, the average age of her patients, older, much older. I think when we think about cannabis and older adults, theres a very clear and steep trajectory over years that seems to be continuing upward. Probably because of increased availability and increased interest. I think its a trend were likely to continue to see. Reporter and its a trend some people are betting the farm on. Welcome to one of the largest cannabisgrowing operations in the world. This is Glass House Farms and were about 15 miles south of santa barbara, california. What youre going to find here is six greenhouses, each one about 15 Football Fields in size, which means they can grow about a million and a half pounds of weed every year. One of the plants that they grow here, for example, is something known as jellyfish, which is specifically formulated to try and ease insomnia and pain. And heres the thing. Just about every plant that is grown here is designed with seniors in mind. I did not realize how big this was going to be. Wow. Reporter when you look out at all of this, what do you see . My first thought is that what if all the pharmaceutical drugs that all the seniors are taking, taking now, what if it was replaced with all of these plants . Plants over pills. Reporter 75yearold sue taylor is a Brand Ambassador here at glass house. Shes an unlikely believer and now a messenger for cannabis use in seniors. If you said to me, oh, youre going to be the trusted face of cannabis, i would say, oh, youve been smoking too much. Reporter what was your perception of cannabis . I thought it was a drug like cocaine, like crack cocaine. This was a stigma. Reporter but over the last decade, the perceptions, the stigma, and yes, the face of cannabis has changed. It was before the mama sue came out. Reporter to this face, a senior, former Catholic School principal, mama sue, who opened her own dispensary dedicated to seniors. Working with the cannabis is like magic. Reporter and youve seen people get rid of their other medications once they start taking cannabis . Time after time after time. Reporter but none of this is easy. Initially, many seniors were skeptical, worried about getting high. I dont like feeling high. I just dont. And i think most seniors are that way. Reporter its why sue teamed up with The Glass House dispensary team and their fields of high cbd jellyfish plants which mama sue says makes it less about getting high and more about getting relief. Thats what the seniors on the bus told me they wanted as well. Pain relief. Better sleep. Less anxiety. Better Quality Of Life. And not getting stoned. Here you go, sweetie. Dont race now. Id like to bring in our special guest speaker, which is sue taylor. [ applause ] thank you. My life didnt begin until i was in my 50s. 60s, out of this world. 70s is off the chain. [ laughter ] reporter honestly, it all feels a little off the chain. Seniors, some of them older than my own parents, strolling a Marijuana Dispensary in search of a way to change the face, the pace, the struggles of aging itself. Reporter were you using Something Else before no. Getting other things too. Reporter so it really helps you. Really. Reporter so robin, what did you end up with here . Im going to venture off and try a flower roll which is good for relaxation and helping you sleep. Reporter do you get nervous at all trying this stuff . A little bit. Reporter understandably nervous. After all, will it work . What are the concerns about harm . And is there any evidence behind all of this . Our Investigation Continues in the holy land of medicinal cannabis. We travel there next. So come on in. Even if its your birthday, too. Available for a limited time only at ihop. Download the app and start earning free food. Fisher Investments in this market, youll find Fisher Investments is different than other Money Managers. other Money Manager different how . Arent we all just looking for the hottest stocks . Fisher Investments nope. We use diversified strategies to position our clients portfolios for their longterm goals. other Money Manager but you still sell investments that generate high commissions for you, right . Fisher Investments no, we dont sell commission products. Were a fiduciary, obligated to act in our clients best interest. other Money Manager so when do you make more money, only when your clients make more money . Fisher Investments yep. We do better when our clients do better. At Fisher Investments, were clearly different. Tide is busting laundrys biggest myth. That cold water cant clean. Cold water, on those stains . Cold water cant clean tough stains . Id say that myth is busted. Turn to cold, with tide. Tourists tourists that turn into scientists. Tourists photographing thousands of miles of remote coral reefs. That can be analyzed by ai in real time. So researchers can identify which areas are at risk. And help life underwater flourish. Almost exactly ten years ago to the day, i returned to what many call the holy land of medical marijuana, israel. And it was here about a decade ago outside of tel aviv, i met a group of seniors who were using cannabis to treat everything from their pain to their posttraumatic stress, to their tremors, even their anxiety. What have the last ten years been like for you . Wow. Reporter Imba Wlchlt Sokoren was the head nurse at Balorim Nursing Home back in 2013. I was pretty skeptical of this. Did you think you were going to be able to change my mind . I prayed for. I wanted everybody to come to see what i see. Reporter i met people like 80yearold moshe root. For too long, he says, he suffered from debilitating tremors and insomnia. He says cannabis worked for him and it was the only thing that did. You dream, you fly. Reporter when you smoke . Yeah. Reporter for me, it was the first time i had seen Something Like this, seniors over and over again using cannabis to sleep better, to gain weight, improve mood, reduce pain. Scientists at tel aviv university, they also took notice of this, studying the initial results and calling them outstanding. Ten years later moshe root has since passed away but the work and the tedious gathering of data continues. These are the growing fields of tikun olam, which translated means to repair the world. Its different from what you saw ten years ago when you were here . Reporter yes. Very different. Lihi bar Lev Shurlater is the director of research here. This will be reporter shes also one of the reasons israel has been such a world leader in medicinal marijuana. For us back then it was everything we wanted to achieve, but that study led us to different understanding of the treatment in the elderly. Reporter the final Research Results were published in 2020, and they found a sharp improvement in the patients medical conditions and a decrease in Prescription Drug usage. Once again, more plants. Less pharma. Where does israel stand with regard to using cannabis in seniors compared to the rest of the world . That we can work in a general hospital, we can provide cannabis in a general hospital. Reporter now, this is something that may surprise you. But in israel not only is cannabis regularly used as a medicine, cannabis is often given in hospitals with specialized training to make sure it is consumed properly. 62yearold nama is a cancer survivor. She now deals with chronic pain. Were you taking opioids and other medications for pain . I tried ten years before. I stopped work. I could hardly walk. It was difficult and it was terrible. Reporter her life is so different now. She couldnt even get out of bed back then but is now a thriving yoga teacher. Her visit today is to learn how to vape cannabis instead of smoking it. So in israel at the moment, we have too much people using by smoke. Its not good for your health. Okay, you want to sit down . I think its going to be more easy for you. Reporter keep in mind as you watch this, were in a clinic in a hospital. This is a treatment that theyre administering. Okay. So nama, this is the vaporizer. We start now. Its a little bit different. It is different. Reporter a difference nama says she felt almost immediately. Wonderful. Great. Im not coughing. Reporter youre not coughing. I wonder how would it be later. But right now its wonderful. Its nice. Nice. Reporter again, what really struck me about all of this as i sat there, was that this was all happening in a hospital. Its not a secret anymore. Its not behind the table. So this is a huge change. Reporter but i do want to be clear, change is never easy. Not even here in israel. Do you get resistance . Some of them are really against still. They didnt learn about the cannabis. They dont know how to use it. Reporter and so you have to continue to seek knowledge. As we did. 60 miles north in the shimmering port city of haifa. What is the most challenging part of running one of the biggest labs at the m. I. T. Of israel . Dr. Dedi meri travels all over israel to medical schools teaching the physicians of the future. We are just starting to scratch the beginning of understanding this complex plant. Reporter his goal, to show how it all works. How cannabis could help treat so many different ailments using the endocannabinoid system. Think of it like this. We all have an endocannabinoid system. Which plays a role in just about every function in our body. Your body is constantly making what are called Endogenous Ka nab noids, which bind to receptors throughout the body. So for example, look over here. If someone were to have back pain, that could trigger their homemade cannabinoids releasing and attaching to cb1 receptors in the spine to help relieve that pain. Now, when the Endocan Binnoid System is working well, doctors call it homeostatic, a healthy balance. But heres part of the problem. This starts to change and diminish as we age. There is a big change in tone of endosome cannabinoids in older people. And, yes, i think older people are deficient in endocannabinoids. Reporter dedi believes we just stop making as much as we get older. And with fewer cannabinoids, seniors are more likely to lose that homeostasis, that balance. But dedi believes it can be restored by ingesting the cannabinoids in cannabis, which then bind to those endocannabinoid receptors and help rebalance the system. Are we deficient in certain endocannabinoids and youre replacing that by giving cannabis . Sometimes you need very low amounts just to make your body activate and do the other things. So starting the engine, it might do it by itself. Reporter its a different way of thinking. Instead of just treating a specific malady like pain, dedi says cannabis is teaching the body to care for itself. Instead of taking many pills for each indication, cannabis can affect all of that. A little bit of pain, a little bit of appetite, a little bit of mood, a little bit in the sleep. But altogether you get the improving the Quality Of Life. And i think that older people, we can really, really, really help them with cannabis. Im 62 and i think its even better when i was 22 or 42. Now its the best time of my life. Reporter its all so hopeful and audacious. In fact, now some even believe cannabis could help with one of the most challenging and one of the most untreatable, alzheimers. You did great. Reporter ill explain why when we come back. He does. Were having triplets. No, what does that mean . It means youre gonna need more tide. See . Ah. More likes . More tide. Everyones. Gonna. Need. More. Tide youre gonna need more tide. This backtoschool season tide and downy are giving back with 1. 5 Million Dollars in scholarships. Enter to win. Rsv can be a dangerous virus. [sneeze]. For those 60 and older. Its not just a cold. And if youre 60 or older. 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Its Late AfternoonFebruary 2023 when i arrive at what some call israels san francisco, picturesque haifa. So you make this walk quite frequently to go visit your father . Yes. Im glad im coming to make him happy. Reporter i meet up with 69yearold ruthie ben shalom. Energetic, lively, and above all a very good daughter. I know that he have memories but he cannot work with them. Reporter its been a rough road for her father, joseph. What was he like before the dementia . He touch everybody. Reporter was he very warm . Very, very warm. Reporter but then two years ago, after his diagnosis, something changed. Something that happens to nearly 90 of patients with dementia. He start to be angry, shouting, hitting. It was very, very scary. Reporter im sorry. Yeah. I knew that this is not my father. When patients with dementia start having aggressiveness, the Family Members are in a very terrible situation. Reporter dr. Veret harmush, a geriatrician At Laniata Hospital in nearby netanya, shes been on a mission to try and treat what so far has been almost always untreatable. The first thing in the medications that you give them are the antipsychotics. Medications that can increase their probability to die. They can kill them. The doctor gave us medicine for him, but he start to be like a zombie. Reporter harmush had an idea for older patients like joseph based upon what she had seen with some of the youngest. When i saw that cannabinoids are approved for epilepsy for children, i thought, if it can help here they might help in the behavioral disturbances of dementia. Reporter it was a simple theory. During a seizure the brain has these sudden outbursts of electrical energy, kind of like what you see here, and that can lead to physical outbursts. Harmush thought the same thing might be happening in dementia patients, leading to behavioral outbursts. Evidekel was tested in so many clinical trials. Reporter so with the help of lihi bar Lev Shurleiter they put it to the test. 60 patients, average age 79, half got tikun olams cannabis oil, which is 30 cbd and 1 thc. The other half got a placebo. And no one knew who got which. After 16 weeks there were no serious side effects in either group. But the Cannabis Group had significantly reduced agitation. They also found something that surprised them. In some of the cases patieients were also able to reduce the other drugs they had been taking. Again and again, it was more plants, fewer pills. I had the patient, shes getting four, five medications to control her hypertension. With the cannabis oil we stopped all the medications. Reporter and there was one more thing. Theres this one 98yearold that he started reading. Reporter so their cognition actually improved. Actually improved. Reporter and do you think its because the cannabis is protecting the brain somehow . Could be. Could be. Reporter very early studies in mice show something we have never seen before. That is that low dose thc was actually seen to reduce the amount of plaque in their brains. It is early and it is mice. But the big question will be what that looks like over a longer course in human subjects. [ speaking in a nonenglish language ] reporter but in the meantime, joseph and his family, theyre not waiting for any trial results. So this is it, huh . Ruthie. Yes. Its changed his life. Reporter twice a day, he takes this cannabis oil dr. Harmush recommended. It sounds like hes a different man. He come back. Its bring him back. Reporter while making this film, i saw scenes like this play out over and over again. Including back in the United States in palm beach, florida. This is neil rosenblum and his wife, iris. Iris . Yeah. Reporter how are you . My wifes mother and sister and aunt, they had alzheimers. It scared her half to death and it progressed very slowly. Maybe four years ago, she cried for a half an hour every morning like clockwork. Reporter this is fullon crying . Crying. Reporter did they try different medications . She had enough antidepressants to keep an elephant calm. And still she cried. Reporter in 2019 they started a Pilot Program here at morse life. Its a Senior Living community in florida. Hi, iris. Reporter iris was given cannabis. You look so beautiful today. Reporter dr. Melanie bone runs the program. We do cbd. All of the different cbs in them and the terpenes. One, two, three. Dr. Bone came and gave her one. Stopped crying. Done. Iris. Here we go, sweetie. Takes one in the morning and one at night. Its over. Reporter that sounds extraordinary. Magic. It was so impressive how that worked. Kind of like charlotte figi, where you see the seizures change and you go, whats that . Reporter the world paid attention to charlotte figi, who we first introduced you to ten years ago. She used to have some 300 seizures a week and nothing worked. Until she was given cannabis. And then her seizures nearly completely stopped. It changed everything for her and the world. And now seniors at the very opposite of the age spectrum are using it in several countries to treat behavioral symptoms such as aggression and also increasingly for what i call the nuisances of aging. Everything from Sleep Disorders to pain to anxiety. As dr. Bone saw success with those patients in the memory care unit, she also saw it with the hundreds of other residents using cannabis all over morris life. Like 98yearold Marvin Horowitz and 94yearold ken tillman. Ive got to warn you, with these two its kind of hard to get a word in edgewise. Im only going to say nice things about you. And thats hard. Reporter we werent even finished setting up and they were eager to get their message out. My main purpose here is that people over 90 should not stop living. Yeah. Ive taken it over a year, religiously, and its reinvented my life. Reporter its another living lab on a much larger scale than the hatorim nursing home in israel. It also has amazing results. I want the equivalent of this reporter but also cautionary tales. Its actually going to be a little bit stronger. Reporter that when we come back so why do we leave so much Untapped Potential on the table . This is a next level bed, for a next level you. My Circadian Rhythm is kicking your Circadian Rhythms butt its not a competition. I know, but im still winning so, it is a competition. Save up to 500 on the new sleep number® smart bed. Plus, free Home Delivery when you add an adjustable base. Shop now only at sleep number®. They fell in love with the irresistible scent. Huh, huh, so did their dog roger. Gain scent beads keep even the stinkiest Stuff Smelling fresh. dad we got our Subaru Forester wilderness to discover all of the places that make us feel something more. vo subaru is the National Park foundations largest corporate donor, helping expand access for all. Welcome to my digestive system. When your gut and vaginal bacteria are off balance. You may feel it. But just one align womens Probiotic Daily helps soothe digestive upsets. And support vaginal health. With 30 grams of protein. Those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks uuuhhhh. Here, ill take that woohoo ensure max protein, 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar. Enter the 10,000 powered by protein max challenge. Its an uncharacteristically cloudy spring day in west palm beach, florida. But for 94yearold ken tillman its all sunshine. After all, hes driving to pick up his monthly supply of medical marijuana. Well, well, well. Fancy car. I like it. How are you, sir . Old guys driving cars. Reporter and old guys, seniors, using weed. You know, even after my cannabus experience ive got to tell you, this all still feels a bit surreal. I never thought i would be taken through a dispensary by a 94yearold who is going to show me around. Who else would take you . I give them my card. Reporter now, dont be fooled. Ken is a seasoned pro. Kenneth . Yes. Were ready for you. Yes, i want the equivalent of this. In your label. Okay. 1,000 . We actually do have something perfect for you. Its actually going to be a little bit stronger. Okay, and my discounts. We actually have a Wisdom Discount. Reporter and who qualifies for a Wisdom Discount . Thats any patient over the age of 55. Reporter yeah, you heard that right. Over here they call it the Wisdom Discount. Its not a senior discount or an elderly discount. Its wisdom. I love that. Because it is the wisdom and the experience which has helped ken on his cannabis journey. How are you feeling about this . I dont mind trying it and finding my niche. Reporter after a couple of years of trial and error, ken has found his groove. But kens Cannabis Story actually started with an awful scare. It happened in the middle of the night. I was afraid i was going to fall out of bed because i started to get dizzy and i was confused and i was holding on to the mattress on one side because i was afraid i was going to fall. Reporter were you nervous before the first time you ever tried gummies . Robin savage, our cannabis newbies, she had a similar experience when she took some cbd gummies for sleep. When i started to fall asleep, i felt like my chest was closing in. I literally i was so disoriented, i couldnt walk. Finding the right sweet spot can be very problematic for people. Reporter when we told dr. Staci gruber what had happened to ken and robin, she wasnt surprised. Cbd and other constituents is a really, really tricky thing. Our patients do describe by selfreport significant immovement in sleep, both reduced time to fall asleep and staying asleep. The Scientific Evidence is less rigorous here. Reporter so here is what we know. Thc is usually seen as a sedative. Kind of chills you out, calms you down. But the problem is that in certain cases the exact same strain can do almost the opposite. It can be a stimulant. As you increase the dose, it can go from being sedating to being stimulating. As for cbd, some studies show just the reverse. Low doses can make you more alert. High doses sleepy. As a result, there is no perfect strain or dose for everyone. It is trial and error. And on top of that, its not just what you take but how you take it as well. One big problem is older adults very often eat it as a cookie, a gummy, some kind of an edible, and then they have to digest it before the effect becomes apparent. So its very, very easy to have a problem with dosing. Reporter heres why. Your metabolism naturally slows as you age. So that edible, which may have typically kicked in in about an hour, now takes two hours. Thinking that the edible didnt work, the senior may take another edible. Sometimes a stronger one. Its called stacking. And it can be a huge problem. Imagine the scenario where somebody takes what they think is one dose of something and its already too high. The experience that they have is actually getting worse over time. Right . Its like the gift that keeps on giving. My fear, and i think probably if you would poll the community, this community, the greatest fear people have is falling. Reporter and researchers have in fact seen a dramatic increase in cannabisrelated e. R. Visits. One california study documented 366 visits by seniors in 2005, which then skyrocketed to more than 12,000 in 2019. I met up with dr. Vashel tollia. He runs one of the first geriatric Emergency Rooms in the country. Its at the university of california san diego. You know, jer yachtric patients arent just older adults. They have a really unique set of needs. Reporter especially when it comes to drugdrug interactions. Cannabis use can interact with many medications patients are on and cause cognitive impairment, dizziness, and some of the underlying reasons for why they actually presented to the emergency department. Reporter do we understand enough about those types of interactions . I think studies particularly in the senior population are very limited right now. Have they now inadvertently increased the amount of things theyre taking like an anticoagulant. So these things are all incredibly important to be mindful of. Would you say that your Quality Of Life, your pain is a little bit better . Reporter its why doctors like dr. Bone work very closely with their cannabis patients. Were going to be back in one second with your drops. Reporter she knows that things can go wrong and fast. I think most of the bad things we see with cannabis is when people just take it and its more like the recreational side, which is pretty unregulated for seniors and can have devastating consequences. A treat. If youre going to use it, try to do it when im around so i can make sure that everything is okay. But also start small. And start it at a lower dose. See how it affects you. Reporter we heard that over and over. Start low. Go slow. Its something robin told us she did not do. Despite the warnings she heard at the dispensary she started with the highdose gummy she purchased at another store. It really scared me to the point where i wont even take any cbd anything anymore. Reporter for ken, the story is very different. After his scare he met with his cannabis doctor, who amazingly hi, ken reporter makes oldfashioned house calls. Dr. Bone continues to check in and monitor his use. Have you noticed anything different in how you feel physically . Reporter what youre witnessing in all of this is a potential new model for cannabisbased health care. But the question, is it viable nationwide and could it actually make cannabis use for seniors safer . The answer to these questions might lie right where we started in israel. That when we come back. Your heart races. Your eyes close. And you realize youre in love. Steve . With a laundry detergent. New gain flings. Seriously good scent. And now, 50 more fresh. Thats love at first sniff. Let Innovation Refunds help with your erc tax refund so you can improve your business however you see fit. Rosie used part of her refund to build an outdoor patio. Clink dr. Marshall used part of his refund to give his practice a facelift. Emily used part of her refund to buy. I run a wax museum. Let Innovation Refunds help you get started on your erc tax refund. Stop waiting. Go to innovationrefunds. Com you really got the brows. Tourists tourists that turn into scientists. Tourists photographing thousands of miles of remote coral reefs. That can be analyzed by ai in real time. So researchers can identify which areas are at risk. And help life underwater flourish. Near the old city, a very modern building with a very progressive mandate, Government Regulation of medicinal cannabis. Here at the Ministry Of Health in jerusalem, they been focused on reform now for the last couple of years, even setting up this special Cannabis Unit to help oversee it. Dr. Arnan afek is probably going to surprise you. He is the one who helped create that Cannabis Unit. I got to tell you, youre the former Surgeon General of israel. Youre wearing a green shirt. You have a cannabis tie. You have green glasses. Youre all in on whats happening with cannabis here. Well, when we started, i couldnt think of some person who would be totally opposite of the person you choose for that mission. I never smoked in my life. I never took cannabis. Just one pull. But i truly believe that our mission right now based on scientific knowledge is to pretty idea into the medical world so more physicians will prescribe medical Grade Cannabis to their patients. Its an extraordinary statement, and it has one guiding principle. We want this medicine to be produced in a very careful way, because the first saying in medicine is do not do harm. Do no harm. That was the goal when they reformed israels entire medical cannabis system. Creating strict regulations for growing, manufacturing, and distributing cannabis. Standards that essentially treated marijuana as a medicine. Those standards ensure that the product will be consistent and safe, and every product in israel comes with a certificate of analysis. So the patient can look at the analysis and see exactly the cannabinoid in the product. We are doing six different testing. Reporter dr. Miry is responsible for analyzing all of israels cannabis. Dont forget that sometimes patient taking cannabis when they are very sick, when their immune is deficient. You dent want to have pesticides, dont want to have microbiology, things like that when the body is so weak. Reporter and when the body is so vulnerable, as with seniors. In israel, in order for the product to reach to the pharmacy, to be tested all the way. Yes, you heard him right. Cannabis is now available here in pharmacies. Real pharmacies. So let me give you an idea of how this works. Once you get your Cannabis Prescription from a doctor, you can then take it to one of more than 300 pharmacies that have been authorized by the Ministry Of Health to sell medical Grade Cannabis. These are pharmacies that are going to sell both traditional medications as well as medical marijuana. Lets go take a look. Are you seeing people who are seniors, people over the age of 65 . Yeah, 65, 75, 85, 90. Veteran pharmacist leon granat says that 98 of his business is now cannabis. And much of that for seniors. Do you think about elderly patients taking cannabis differently than you think about younger generations . Its different because we need to help them to use the cannabis in the right way. Its not only selling them here in the pharmacy. We are talking to them in the evening. Youll call them . Yeah, yeah, for sure. And its not just outpatient pharmacies. But also inpatient geriatric hospitals, including what are known as ccus. That alexanders for cannabis care units. This is a huge different than the United States, and i really hope that we can be there soon. What do you think is holding back the United States from creating reforms like youre describing . Each state has its own policy and ruling. Certain states people can take cannabis as much as they want. On the other hand, there are other states that do not permit the use of cannabis. I think its an incredible challenging framework within which to work currently, because you have state and federal law a bit at odds with each other. And all of that makes it extremely difficult. Even dangerous to navigate, especially for seniors. When we think about our older adults on a fixed budget who plunked down 100 which should have 30, 40, 50, and it contains one or two and may contain things like residual solvents or other things that could be very harmful. We took these specific concerns to dr. Nora vulko. Its hard to regulate a plan. Reporter she is the director of the National Drug institute on drug abuse. Im more worried about potential negative effects, cardiovascular, pulmonary negative effects, affects from interactions of marijuana with other compound they may be taking. I think israel is offering us an example of how to basically advance research. They have been leaders from the beginning. You think israel could be a good model for the United States in terms of advancing research, regulating cannabis and making it safer for people . Yes. Do you think well ever get to that point . I am an optimist by nature. Over the last ten years hey, sweetheart. Over and over again, its what surprised us the most. Just the relief. The optimism, the possibility. Immediate pain relief. The impact that carefully controlled cannabis could have, even on seniors. When we were so young and so free. Do you think cannabis could change the face of aging . Its one of the things that can make us age more gracefully and comfortably, absolutely. I would love to be with you again i think cannabis can improve aging. So at least living better for sure. I would love to have you back again we deserve to live a Quality Of Life as we age, as we age. In this endless summer night a better Quality Of Life for the seniors we met all over the world. So many times marijuana seems to have begin them that. Painfree walks on the beach for barbara. Yoga for nama. Quiet time for ken and iris. Ruthie and joseph. Laughter for ken. The record shows. And songs for mervyn. And did it my way we could feel those sweet vibrations just by the look in your eye there is still a lot more studies to be done on cannabis and its risks and benefits for the elderly, but it is already catching on. People over 65 years old are now considered the Fastest Growing demographic of cannabis customers. Thanks for watching the whole story. Im see you next sunday. Dynamic Music what can you tell us about the people whove just landed on this planet . It used to be when you looked at a movie or a tv show set in the future, there were no black people. Black people were just so absent in Science Fiction and its a blind spot