By Jon Hiltz
A new study that surveyed over 47,000 American adults 50 and older, has discovered a rather intriguing trend among America’s baby boomers – they love getting high.
Dr. Benjamin Han, of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care at NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC) said that “with the increased availability of legalized marijuana, there is an urgent need to understand the prevalence of its use and also its effects among older generations.”
Researchers assessed replies from 47,140 U.S. adults ages 50 and older, between 2006 to 2013. The findings showed that between 2006 and 2013, a 71 percent rise in baby boomer cannabis use correlated almost perfectly with ongoing marijuana reform.
Cannabis use for adults over the age of 65 has gone up very significantly as well. While seniors traditionally consumed less marijuana when compared to their slightly younger cohorts – ages 50-64 – their overall use “increased two and a half times over eight years.”
The prevalence of past-year cannabis use among people aged 50 and over grew significantly from 2006/07 to 2012/13. This includes a 57.8 percent increase for adults aged 50–64 and a 250 percent increase for those aged over 65.
Another recent study done by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) shows that in 2014, middle-aged parents were more likely than their teenagers to get high on a regular basis.
The data showed that 7.4 percent of Americans aged 12 to 17-years-old smoked pot regularly in 2014 and 8 percent of adults aged 35 to 44 years did the same thing. That percentage surpassed the number of teens for the first time since 2002.
The same study showed some other incredible numbers which pair well with the findings released by Dr. Han and his team.
The CDC report showed that since 2002, the increase in Americans aged 55 to 64 who enjoy marijuana regularly has risen a staggering 455 percent. Seniors contacted in this study clearly love the ganja as well, as the findings showed that cannabis use has increased 333 percent for those aged 65 and older.
The takeaway from both of these studies is that marijuana reform is as vast as the country is wide. It also clearly shows that cannabis has endured the decades-long prohibition that was unjustly dumped upon it.
Now that more than half the country has access to legal cannabis in some form, it seems timely to say that we have a marijuana majority. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Additional reporting contributed by Monterey Bud
