It's Not the Kids Turning on to Weed; It's Grandma and Grandpa [View all]

[polly7]

Last edited Sat May 28, 2016, 12:31 PM - Edit history (2)

Baby boomers have discovered (or rediscovered) the bud.

By Phillip Smith / AlterNet May 24, 2016

The growing acceptance of and access to legal marijuana has some people worried that the youth are going to start using it more frequently, but that's not the demographic where pot has really taken off. Instead, it's senior citizens.

Whether it's wide-open medical marijuana states like California or fully legal states like Colorado, the gray-haired set is increasingly turning to pot, and not just to ease their aches and pains With a half-dozen more states likely to have legalization on the ballot (and win) this year and medical marijuana coming to more, grandma and grandpa are set to become even more interested.

Last week, CBS This Morning reported on the phenomenon of senior marijuana use, and the numbers are striking. Citing data from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the program reported that the number of pot users over 55 jumped from 2.8 million in 2013 to 4.3 million in 2014, a 55% increase in a single year. Watch the video

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Correspondent Barry Petersen took viewers inside Oakland's Harborside Health Center, the world's largest medical marijuana dispensary, where the senior demographic was well-represented. His footage shows people in their 50s and 60s describing how marijuana treats what ails them.

"Seniors account for only 14% of the population, but they use more than 30% of all prescription drugs, including some highly addictive pain killers," Petersen reported. "So pot is fast becoming a pill alternative."

One Harborside patient, an 80-year-old woman who uses marijuana to help with mobility got right to the point:

"Every medication has a risk," she said. "I've made my choice."

Full article: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/not-kids-turning-weed-grandma-grandpa?akid=14303.44541.6oPI9-&rd=1&src=newsletter1057317&t=12

Sorry, can't get video link to work, but it does in the article.