Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The mature stoner: why are so many seniors smoking weed?
The Guardian (UK) ^ | January 15th, 2019 | Alex Halperin

Posted on 01/15/2019 8:57:26 AM PST by Mariner

Older people are the fastest-growing group of cannabis users, as stigma fades and some seek an alternative to prescription drugs

As attitudes towards cannabis shift, the fastest-growing group of users is over 50 – and marijuana’s popularity among seniors is beginning to change the American experience of old age.

Why are more seniors getting high? It might make more sense to ask: “Why not?” As adults reach retirement, they age out of drug tests and have far more time on their hands. Some feel liberated to abandon long-held proprieties.

Elegant vape pens and other attractive, discreet products have helped de stigmatize the drug among older Americans. “Legalization seems to make non-users seem a little less scared of it, and perhaps less judgmental,” says Jo, a 56-year-old cannabis user who preferred not to use her real name.

The seniors using cannabis today aren’t your parents’ grandparents. The generation that camped out at Woodstock is now in its seventies. They’ve been around grass long enough to realize it’s not going to kill them, and are more open to the possibility it will come with health benefits. (By contrast, in a survey of one, my 100-year-old grandmother recently said she had no interest in medical marijuana.)

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: addiction; cannabis; dopefiends; drugs; feminists; freedom; godsplant; hippied; marijuana; medicine; oxymoron; pot; potheads; seniors; socialists; unitedkingdom; weed; wod
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 161-180181-200201-220221 next last
To: wardaddy

Or make a Tuppador


181 posted on 01/15/2019 1:16:03 PM PST by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: AppyPappy

“That’s enough to go to jail for a while”

In CA every resident is authorized to grow up to 6 plants to maturity, and keep the proceeds of that grow.

In most cases, 6 plants is far more than a pound of trimmed weed.


182 posted on 01/15/2019 1:35:08 PM PST by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 179 | View Replies]

To: Mariner

Reality is for people who can’t handle drugs.


183 posted on 01/15/2019 1:42:29 PM PST by 43north (Its hard to stop a man when he knows he's right and he keeps coming.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mariner

If he grew it. I wonder how they document that.


184 posted on 01/15/2019 1:43:41 PM PST by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 182 | View Replies]

To: Innovative

Guess you’re not there yet. Or maybe you are but feel a need to judge. Getting old isn’t for sissies, and even though some don’t smoke pot, some seniors do love our PM cocktail hour. It makes old age nicer. Go ahead, tell us again to stop.


185 posted on 01/15/2019 1:49:20 PM PST by EnquiringMind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Truthoverpower

Absolutely. Would much rather eat a cookie than take a percocet. No ill side effects, helps the arthritis immensely, and as a guitar player, I NEED THAT!


186 posted on 01/15/2019 1:50:54 PM PST by Mama Shawna
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: LouieFisk

Hehe.

One of my best friends from high school was raised by his father and grandmother (his mother died when he was 2).

His grandmother died from emphysema in high school and he vowed he would never smoke. We went to college and he came back smoking. I asked him what changed and he said “don’t worry” he’d quit when he knew he was addicted.

20 years later he still smokes.


187 posted on 01/15/2019 2:03:02 PM PST by Dexter Morgan ("MSNBC News? Appalling. Appalling and amateurish. So both at the same time; it's a bad combination.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: AppyPappy

“I wonder how they document that.”

No need to obtain a permit or document.

It has the same legal construct as growing tomatoes.


188 posted on 01/15/2019 2:06:22 PM PST by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 184 | View Replies]

To: HotHunt

I’m in a similar boat except 30 years younger...always had the short haircut. Last year I started growing it out and now I’ve been keeping it at about 2.5 to 3 inches on top, 1” on the sides and back, combed back, and my wife loves it.

I’ve told her I’m going to grow a pony tail once our youngest heads off to college!


189 posted on 01/15/2019 2:15:29 PM PST by Dexter Morgan ("MSNBC News? Appalling. Appalling and amateurish. So both at the same time; it's a bad combination.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 116 | View Replies]

To: Mikemurphy

“scientific study of the chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, has led to two FDA-approved medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals in pill form. Continued research may lead to more medications.” - https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana-medicine


190 posted on 01/15/2019 2:26:59 PM PST by NobleFree ("law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 167 | View Replies]

To: Mikemurphy
The legalization of Hemp in the agricultural bill is absolute madness. This stuff is a deadly narcotic long and properly banned. It is Marijuana.

Wow. You couldn't be more wrong.

Marijuana and hemp are related, but hemp contains almost zero THC. You'd have to smoke a bale of it to even get a slight buzz.

191 posted on 01/15/2019 2:35:35 PM PST by Windflier (Pitchforks and torches ripen on the vine. Left too long, they become black rifles.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Dexter Morgan

Had one brother who just outright admitted he wasn’t able to quit cigs, even when he had to lug oxygen wherever he went and endured regular hospitalizations for it. Died before the age of 60, having smoked since he was probably 9-10 years old,

Sad, but we all reap what we sow. And we have a tendency to do stupid stuff and to make excuses for it. We’re odd creatures, we are.


192 posted on 01/15/2019 2:36:23 PM PST by LouieFisk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 187 | View Replies]

To: Bubba Ho-Tep

“So in your mind, the person who enjoys a glass of wine with dinner once a week, and has for many years, is an alcoholic?”

LOLz, you must have never seen college kids drink.


193 posted on 01/15/2019 2:39:07 PM PST by LouieFisk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 136 | View Replies]

To: zek157

“He wouldn’t be at risk of dying from withdrawals without it, but that bag of chips sure is tasty...”

I’m not sure what would be worse, an outright physical addiction that a person’s body goes through and then it passed or an addiction that nags at the mind. I think it’s likelier easier to change the body than the mind.


194 posted on 01/15/2019 2:46:33 PM PST by LouieFisk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 137 | View Replies]

To: Windflier

Legalized hemp growing where we live. THC content must be less than 3%. Supposedly better $ / acre than corn or soybean but harder to harvest.
We lease our fields - but hoping our farmer gives it a try.


195 posted on 01/15/2019 2:51:41 PM PST by Palio di Siena
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 191 | View Replies]

To: LouieFisk

The logic is rather simple instead of circular
If you smoke marijuana daily for years and suddenly quit cold turkey you may miss it some but you will have no physical reactions will quickly resume living life outside of a marijuana haze even though it was a daily habit

If you use narcotics or alcohol or benzodiazepines daily for years and stop suddenly cold turkey you will be in serious trouble and could even die from the withdrawals
That is the difference

I know this from experience with marijuana and from watching drunks and heroin addicts stop


196 posted on 01/15/2019 3:09:00 PM PST by wardaddy (I don’t care that you’re not a racist......when the shooting starts it won’t matter what yo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: wardaddy

Your experience doesn’t jive with what is known about quitting weed:
https://teens.drugabuse.gov/blog/post/marijuana-withdrawal-real

But every peron’s experience is, by nature, unique to that person.


197 posted on 01/15/2019 3:14:59 PM PST by LouieFisk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 196 | View Replies]

To: Innovative

Whippersnapper


198 posted on 01/15/2019 3:20:49 PM PST by zeebee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Mariner

Yeah but possession of certain amounts of tomatoes is not illegal.


199 posted on 01/15/2019 3:35:06 PM PST by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 188 | View Replies]

To: Mariner

Never have. Never will.

Systemic Enzymes.


200 posted on 01/15/2019 4:32:38 PM PST by YogicCowboy ("I am not entirely on anyone's side, because no one is entirely on mine." - J. R. R. Tolkien)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 161-180181-200201-220221 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson