Older marijuana users in substance abuse treatment: Treatment settings for marijuana-only versus polysubstance use admissions
Abstract
Objective Growing numbers of older adult marijuana users make understanding the marijuana-related treatment needs and treatment-related characteristics of this age group increasingly important. In this study, we examined four types of marijuana-involved admissions (marijuana as the only substance; marijuana as the primary substance with other secondary/tertiary substances; marijuana as the secondary substance; and marijuana as the tertiary substance) by treatment setting.Methods Data came from the 2012-2017 Treatment Episode Data Set-Admissions (TEDS-A), which includes 851,652 admissions by those aged 55+. Using multinomial logistic regression analysis, we focused on the 120,286 marijuana-involved admissions to test the hypothesis that polysubstance use would be associated with a higher likelihood of using detoxification and rehabilitation settings than ambulatory/outpatient settings.Results Of all marijuana-involved admissions, 7.5% were marijuana-only, 12.7% were marijuana-primary, 58.4% were marijuana-secondary, and 21.4% were marijuana-tertiary admissions. Compared to marijuana-only admissions, admissions involving other substances were associated with a higher likelihood of detoxification and rehabilitation than ambulatory/outpatient treatment (e.g., RRR = 5.79, 95% CI = 5.08-6.61 for detoxification and RRR = 3.19, 95% CI = 2.89-3.52 for rehabilitation among marijuana-tertiary admissions). Referral source, first age of marijuana use, race/ethnicity, and homelessness were significant covariates.Conclusions Given increasing numbers of older-adult marijuana users, healthcare providers should screen older adults for marijuana and other substance use, and substance abuse treatment programs should become more responsive to older adults' needs.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Those involved with the criminal justice system (e.g., arrested or on probation, parole, or supervised release) had higher odds of receiving treatment.
“Other studies found that those who were involved with the criminal justice system (e.g., arrested or on probation, parole, or supervised release) had higher odds of receiving treatment [18,22,23].”
Cites
Groce, E. (2018) · Journal of Medical Regulation · doi:10.30770/2572-1852-104.4.32 · Cited by 1,332 · see citing works
US epidemiology of cannabis use and associated problems
Hasin, D. S. (2018) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2017.198 · Cited by 578 · see citing works
New trends in cannabis potency in USA and Europe during the last decade (2008–2017)
Chandra, S., Radwan, M. M., Majumdar, C. G., Church, J. C., Freeman, T. P., & ElSohly, M. A. (2019) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/s00406-019-00983-5 · Cited by 473 · see citing works
Demographic trends among older cannabis users in the United States, 2006-13
Han, B. H., Sherman, S. E., Mauro, P. M., Martins, S. S., Rotenberg, J., & Palamar, J. J. (2016) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.13670 · Cited by 251 · see citing works
Acute Illness Associated With Cannabis Use, by Route of Exposure
Monte, A. A., Shelton, S. K., Mills, E., Saben, J. L., Hopkinson, A., Sonn, B., Devivo, M., Chang, T., Fox, J. A., Brevik, C., et al. (2019) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/m18-2809 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Choi, N. G., DiNitto, D. M., & Marti, C. N. (2014) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.10.004 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Self-citationTrends in substance use admissions among older adults
Chhatre, S., Cook, R., Mallik, E., & Jayadevappa, R. (2017) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-017-2538-z · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Salas‐Wright, C. P., Vaughn, M. G., Cummings‐Vaughn, L. A., Holzer, K. J., Nelson, E. J., AbiNader, M. A., & Oh, S. (2016) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.11.031 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Arndt, S. V., Clayton, R., & Schultz, S. K. (2011) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/jgp.0b013e31820d942b · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Multiple DSM‐5 substance use disorders: A national study of US adults
McCabe, S. E., West, B. T., Jutkiewicz, E. M., & Boyd, C. J. (2017) · Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental · doi:10.1002/hup.2625 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Alcohol and Substance Misuse in Older Adults
Blow, F. C., & Barry, K. L. (2012) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-012-0292-9 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
“Those edibles hit hard”: Exploration of Twitter data on cannabis edibles in the U.S
Lamy, F. R., Daniulaityte, R., Sheth, A., Nahhas, R. W., Martins, S. S., Boyer, E. W., & Carlson, R. G. (2016) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.04.029 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Choi, N. G., DiNitto, D. M., & Marti, C. N. (2017) · American Journal on Addictions · doi:10.1111/ajad.12598 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Self-citationNielsen, A. L. (2010) · Journal of Drug Issues · doi:10.1177/002204261004000209 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Choi, N. G., DiNitto, D. M., & Marti, C. N. (2016) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.05.023 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Self-citationStill Dazed and Confused: Midlife Marijuana Use by the Baby Boom Generation
Black, P., & Joseph, L. J. (2014) · Deviant Behavior · doi:10.1080/01639625.2014.889994 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Treatment of Substance Use Disorders in Older Adults: Implications for Care Delivery
Sahker, E., Schultz, S. K., & Arndt, S. V. (2015) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/jgs.13706 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Choi, N. G., DiNitto, D. M., & Marti, C. N. (2017) · Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment · doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2017.02.005 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationDifferences Between Older and Younger Adults in Residential Treatment for Co-Occurring Disorders
Morse, S. A., Watson, C., MacMaster, S. A., & Bride, B. E. (2014) · Journal of Dual Diagnosis · doi:10.1080/15504263.2014.993263 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
A longitudinal assessment of change in marijuana use with other substance use problems
Choi, N. G., DiNitto, D. M., & Marti, C. N. (2018) · The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse · doi:10.1080/00952990.2018.1461879 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Cannabis use disorder and substance use treatment among U.S. adults
Choi, N. G., Moore, J., & Choi, B. Y. (2024) · Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment · doi:10.1016/j.josat.2024.209486 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationChoi, N. G., & Marti, C. N. (2025) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph22040640 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Other studies found that those who were involved with the criminal justice system (e.g., arrested or on probation, parole, or supervised release) had higher odds of receiving treatment [18,22,23].”
Self-citation
- Authors
- Choi, N. G., & DiNitto, D. M.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Corresponding author
- Choi, Namkee G.
- Venue
- Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-10
- Volume
- 105
- Pages
- 28-36
- ISSN
- 0740-5472 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2963861257
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 0.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Keywords
- older adults, cannabis use, polydrug use, substance abuse treatment admissions, treatment setting, detoxification, rehabilitation, outpatient care, treatment needs, referral sources, homelessness, race and ethnicity
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Alcoholism, Cannabis, Marijuana Abuse, Female, Hospitalization, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Substance Abuse Treatment Centers, Substance-Related Disorders, Opiate Alkaloids
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
