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More baby boomers turning to cannabis, study says
Seniors are increasingly passing the pipe. About 9% of US adults between the ages of 50 and 64 have used marijuana at least once during the survey year, while 3% of those over 65 have done so, new research finds.
For middle-age adults, the percentage of cannabis users has doubled over nearly a decade, according to the study, published Thursday in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Older adults have seen a seven-fold increase in that period.
Though marijuana use is increasing among older Americans, "most of these people are not first-time users," said Joseph Palamar, senior study author and an associate professor in the Department of Population Health at New York University Langone Medical Center. "I don't think we need to worry about millions of older people trying weed for the first time," he said. "At least not yet."
Marijuana use by middle-aged and older adults in the United States, 2015–2016 (DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.07.006) (DX)
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @01:10AM (11 children)
They aren't about to get pregnant. They don't need to drive to work anymore. Their kids are grown, so lung disease and cancer won't be making orphans. We're just waiting for them to die anyway, so if they want to hallucinate and lose all motivation to do anything besides smoke... fine. That is totally fine.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday September 08 2018, @01:35AM (5 children)
My Grandpa was an old-skool military officer. Later in life he developed some nasty ailments which involved having his face nuked off, and since he was not yet at the EOL stage but hated unionists and drug-abusing hippie commie pinkos, San Diego's best scientists decided to give him Marinol (this was before weed was legal). He didn't know any better, he trusted the doctors to prescribe him the right medication.
Shortly afterward, he told his wife, for the first time in her life, that he loves her.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @07:34AM (1 child)
Lol, unexpected wholesome?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @08:38AM
Then his wife slapped him, kick him to the curb and screamed "Get the fuck out of my house you junky commie niger! And take your Jew doctor's pills with you!".
And now you know Ethanol-fueled origin story.
(Score: 2) by Kell on Saturday September 08 2018, @10:22AM (2 children)
It's a lovely story, but I do have to ask - who marries someone who has never before said they love her? It was a different time with different standards, I guess?
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday September 08 2018, @12:23PM (1 child)
There have always been fucked up people - both the males and the females. EF is trying to paint a Marine as an unfeeling, almost unhuman creature. And, at the same time, he paints the Marine's wife as some old whore who married the Marine for "security" - by some definitions of "security". But, back to fucked up people - yeah, we have EF. There's one in every crowd.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday September 08 2018, @07:06PM
He was Air Force, and before that he grew up an orphan on the streets of New York City. Kinda toughens one to the point where they believe that showing positive emotion is a sign of weakness. Still took good care of her, though. Growing up during the great depression really sends a message about the importance saving every damn penny you earn.
Every damn penny I earn gets spent on dope, hookers, and fried oysters.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @01:54AM (2 children)
"We're just waiting for them to die anyway ..."
.
That's funny, some of us baby boomers are looking forward to watching YOU die.
I'm a baby boomer. I was a tunnel rat. Look that up and see if you think I would be
scared of you.
I'd love to meet you and teach you some respect for your elders, you little shit stain.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @02:09AM (1 child)
Of course you're not scared; you have a shitton of money and you're a selfish asshole who plans to be buried with your fortune. You secretly wish you could destroy the entire world when you die because nobody else deserves to live after you're dead.
Fucking die right now, you piece of shit.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday September 08 2018, @12:24PM
Your ignorance is limitless.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @07:36AM
Im sorry you are so afraid and ignorant. Maybe one day you will be able to enjoy this gift called life. And no that isnt a veiled hint that you must try drugs, just your mentality is sad.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by taylormc on Saturday September 08 2018, @08:07PM
Also likely is that they're suffering from the aches and pains of middle and old age, and finding that marijuana helps with them. I can tell you that a judicious mix of sativa and indica, even with the THC element removed, provides great assistance for my wife, a fibromyalgia sufferer.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Snotnose on Saturday September 08 2018, @01:18AM (7 children)
And say they were smoking all along. I have several friends that smoked for years. Medical weed became available in California, half of them got the card. The other half kept on toking. Now that it's legal they're fine admitting they smoke weed.
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday September 08 2018, @01:25AM (2 children)
This is true. Now that weed is legal to buy here, go to any pot store and you will get a true multigenerational paradise. And unlike the "tolerant" pot-smoking baby-boomers in San Francisco, the ones are are actually friendly and talkative.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Saturday September 08 2018, @05:14AM (1 child)
Multi-generational?
Whenever I go to the local pot shop, all the customers appear to be over 50.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday September 08 2018, @08:37AM
They've got the money, and are probably not getting drug tested regularly.
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(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday September 08 2018, @01:42AM (2 children)
Well, those that weren't actual hippies certainly knew enough of them. I'm amazed it's not closer to 25%.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday September 08 2018, @02:16AM (1 child)
Sometimes, the oldeads were the ones who bought us our weed while we were scrappy punks willing to ride our bicycles across town for a mere nickelbag of low-grade pot smuggled through the cow's ass. Those old fuckers owned their own homes so we could smoke in there while shooting the shit with them. In their previous lives, they were executives, machinists, high-school teachers.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday September 08 2018, @12:28PM
Jesus Christ! EF paid extra to have his bag of weed pulled from a cow's ass!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday September 08 2018, @12:26PM
I've often been in a small crowd of people, where I'm the only guy who doesn't smoke the stuff. I don't know, don't much care, what the real statistics are. But boomers have always been smoking. Nothing new here. FFS, the original hippies were boomers and their older brothers and sisters!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by crafoo on Saturday September 08 2018, @01:38AM
I agree with most comments who already made the point about baby boomers just being open about it now, and being counted.
Another reason though, A life of hard work can leave your body pretty badly beat up and make most of your remaining time constant pain. I was having a beer with a friend's uncle at a cookout. Moving heavy shit for most of his adult life. He pretty much only drinks Miller Lite, and does that mostly non-stop until bed. He's not even drunk at that point (it's miller lite), just enough to edge out the pain. Legal cannabis would probably do him a lot of good.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @02:03AM
Boomers, just die.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @02:15AM
Die!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @02:19AM (1 child)
Every Boomer needs to be raped to death, as an example to the next generations never to be as greedy and selfish as the Boomers were.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @03:36AM
really the only major mistake was being swindled by the capitalist elites
nobody's perfect
and we can fix that by enacting a progressive and socialist agenda now
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @04:45AM (2 children)
Boomers are the disease, and the millenials are the outcome.
Any question?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @07:38AM (1 child)
Yeah, why did your mom not abort?
Ok that is really mean. How about, why didnt your dad beat some respect and common sense into you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @07:25PM
Don't be a sexist! Women are perfectly capable of belting their children just as well as a man!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @05:35AM (1 child)
The more difficult the government makes it to get opioid pain killers, the more that those with chronic pain conditions will have to turn to alternatives. Where it is legal, cannabis is the obvious alternate choice -- for those for whom it works, anyway.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Saturday September 08 2018, @08:36AM
Cannabis wasn't exactly unpopular when it was (more) illegal. Now it exists in a quasi-legal state in many U.S. states. So its time has come. And as we know, it is at least a partial remedy for the "opioid crisis" [soylentnews.org].
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @01:06PM (4 children)
Seniors are increasingly passing the pipe. About 9% of US adults between the ages of 50 and 64
Age 50 is senior now?
That's my age and I'm in the best shape of my life and definitely stronger, faster, better than the majority of the chubby under 35 crowd. I feel like 6 Million Dollars.
LOL
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @02:03PM (2 children)
At 50, you've on average lived 2/3 of your life, so
whippersnapper 0-25
middle aged 25-50
senior 50-75
on borrowed time 75+
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 09 2018, @12:38AM
Oh please! 25 is not middle aged, it is the prime of life.
Only autistic-tending people (figuratively!) feel free to ignore the definitions of words for something entirely of their own personal creation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 09 2018, @05:55AM
> middle aged 25-50
You seem to have missed a classic phrase, "Don't trust anyone over 30!"
Now that I'm 62, I've reversed that and don't trust anyone under 30--at least not when it comes to technical details in my field. It's the rare 20-something that has the patience to follow through and really do a through job.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Sunday September 09 2018, @08:19PM
It's highly doubtful that you are faster now, in terms of reflexes / muscle speed, than you were at 18-25.
Kind of related, but people don't understand why 18-25 males act and feel invincible. To them I say, you've never been a fit, strong 18 year old male, have you? It was fucking amazing.
(Score: 1) by jman on Monday September 10 2018, @11:10AM
What do they mean, "increasingly" ?