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 ...
How old are people now that were in their teens and early 20s in the 60s?
it’s the “beatles” generation/ culture.
The same asses are setting todays nonsensical political policies.
Many are your today’s government.
Remember the give peace a chance?
The legalization of Hemp in the agricultural bill is absolute madness. This stuff is a deadly narcotic long and properly banned. It is Marijuana. Don’t be fooled. It is all about revenue to transfer to parasites to keep them from rioting and to dope them up. Very horrible policy.
I haven’t been invited to one yet.
The “All-You-Can-Eat” places are being overrun with early-bird seniors at the door with severe cases of “the munchies.”
I’m 73, and I made it all the way to now - even through the 60’s - without ever even trying pot. Also, after my military years, I seldom even used alcohol.
I say that, to say this...I have no idea what pot does to a person; I have family members who used it, and they act like slurring, and slobbering fools when high.
But, I read where people use it for vision problems, and pain...well, seniors usually have lots of little nagging pains, like arthritis, etc. Maybe it gives them some relief from that?
I don’t know.
THIS, right here, is the correct answer.
There is a 21 year old man or woman living inside you right now. In many ways, we remain that young person who has now figured out how to navigate through life. Everything else is adjusting to the expectations of duty and the physical demands of age. Some see a state of induced intoxication as their deserved reward for tolerating the necessary routines of each day.
"the mature geek" or "the mature zombie" or "mature addict" because "mature sage" would be redundant.
It is, but I don't have a big problem with elderly folks running. It's when they drive away that they become hazardous to others.
Always start your headline with an oxymoron.
Because they always have
I. Never thought I’d give it up after daily smoking from 71-84 and 90-91
But life just pulls you along and you adjust as needed
Some folks smoke all their lives
And in the south it doesn’t mean you’re a libtard
I miss it sometimes
Wifey preferred booze so we never smoked....and I don’t drink hardly ever
But of all intoxicants besides women I always preferred marijuana
It’s a preference thing I guess
But I indeed know 70 year old couples who smoke together at night and have for 50 plus years
And pot is not addictive! Also your body doesn’t build up a resistance to it!
And if they drink?
Pot is actually pretty mild compared to the prescription drugs the docs hand out.
Excellent point. I worry more about seniors on the road with their cocktails of "medicine" than I do weed smokers.
There is truth to that
Most folks I know have smoked some all their adult lives and I’m 61
Oh, I think that's part of it....
I know a bunch of people who use it for long term pain—A couple of fire fighters and disabled vets specifically.
If it helps them with chronic back and joint pain, I am cool with it.
There are a lot of people taking much worse drugs and driving around in cars every day.
Probably for the same reason the STD rate for seniors is soaring...
I assume it’s indica
Sativa has too much upside
My father (over 80) and a PTSD vet said it was the only thing that calmed him and allowed him to sleep. He’s unable to drive and only leaves the house to go to the doctor. So, the anti-weed jihadists can stick it.
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