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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
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To: Mikemurphy

You do know that hemp has no THC? The stuff that gets you high?

Nobody smokes rope. Madness indeed.


121 posted on 01/15/2019 10:31:01 AM PST by zek157
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To: McGruff

Apparently, trying to type a comment without a typo is a problem too. :-)


122 posted on 01/15/2019 10:33:10 AM PST by HotHunt (Reagan was good but TRUMP IS GREAT!)
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To: Lagmeister

10x mimium.Like the Beatle’s song “Yes It Is”


123 posted on 01/15/2019 10:34:13 AM PST by Renegade
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To: Mariner

It use to be smuggled in Mad Dog 20/20 the nursing homes had to look out for.

Just think-— Palm Beach or N. Miami highways filled with elderly driven Mercedes and Lex(i),Caddies and Bentleys— all of them stoned out of their gourds. Oh, and the few who can afford a driver-— much safer.

A different kind of diversion from the usually very very .... drunk ... Senior Executives.... LOL.

Rawley Birkin, QC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cwyq3XWeHE


124 posted on 01/15/2019 10:37:55 AM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: onedoug

Actually, the throat cancer takes the smoking option away. I render the MJ properties out in butter and use it to make ginger snaps. One once makes a pound of cannabutter which will make about 200 cookies. That last a long time and is a hell of a lot easier on the system than the pharmaceuticals that don’t work nearly as well.


125 posted on 01/15/2019 10:38:20 AM PST by Robert Wright (It's amazing how much more civil you will be when you post and reply under your real name.)
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To: atc23

Air Traffic Control..... atc? Figures. Was probably on one of the planes you handled of sheer terror in 30 years of flying? Santa Cruz... faar out maan.


126 posted on 01/15/2019 10:39:53 AM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: Mears

Oh my! Bless your heart!


127 posted on 01/15/2019 10:42:53 AM PST by AuntB (Trump is our Ben Franklin - Brilliant, Boisterous, Brave and ALL AMERICAN!)
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To: zek157
Nobody smokes rope. Madness indeed

Roper Madness.

128 posted on 01/15/2019 10:45:53 AM PST by Fightin Whitey
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To: gathersnomoss

Yes indeed... The Villages in Lake county, FL. The CDC’s epidemiology section identifies them as the highest concentration of documented sexually transmitted diseases in the US. A fact.

Physician friend related a story— 80 year old female patient, from s. America, having come in for treatment of a perineal infection— asked him if you can get aids from anal sexual activity. A veteran, he did raise his eyebrows to such and oddball question, and in due diligence for Public Health- asked her why she asked, and the reply was this resident of Villages was having regular interludes with a 30 year old (presumably illegal) mexican landscaper employed by Villages to trim the yard and.... “shrubs”. Sorry. He saved the story for his chronicles of private practice.

No info as to the ‘shroom status or imbibment of the patient or the landscaper.


129 posted on 01/15/2019 10:47:35 AM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: HotHunt

I grew my hair out right after retirement. Lots of hair, chicks dug it. After a few months, long hair was more trouble than it was worth.


130 posted on 01/15/2019 10:50:31 AM PST by rhombus10
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To: Innovative
".... even for retired people there really are other joys in life, than sitting and being stoned...."

Geez, more stereotypes.

I smoke and am very active in my 70's. I'm proud of the fact that I don't drink alcohol because drinking is the bane of most of the broken marriages and lives I see around the rural community I live in.

I work on my cattle farm everyday. Managing and moving the cows, baling hay, mending fences, fixing gates, repairing barns and sheds, doing chores, etc. You name it, I do it on the farm. It's an all day, everyday lifestyle.

Keeps the aches and pains in all my parts and joints at bay some. But I don't sit around stoned all day, like the stereotypical pothead you describe.

You need to get out more before judging others based something you heard or read.

131 posted on 01/15/2019 10:50:45 AM PST by HotHunt (Reagan was good but TRUMP IS GREAT!)
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To: Clutch Martin

I-81 has been upgraded to the “Meth Highway” to Hell— much more uh... agitated druggies, and quite dangerous.

All the way to Asheville for the millenial hippy dips, and column entries on the public assistance rolls as well as burglary, rape and violent crime stats. In Asheville (the town that the Vanders-bilt, Biltmore).


132 posted on 01/15/2019 10:53:09 AM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: AuntB

best wishes.


133 posted on 01/15/2019 10:54:19 AM PST by morphing libertarian (Use Comey's Report; Indict Hillary now; build Kate's wall. --- Proud Smelly Walmart Deplorable)
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To: aspasia

How about “mature Parse-ly?” Dried of course.


134 posted on 01/15/2019 10:54:47 AM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: Mariner

Association found opioid prescriptions for Medicare part D recipients dropped 14% after a state legalized medical marijuana – a hopeful sign amid the opioids crisis.

There might be a drop because you can’t get prescription pain killer anymore, doctors are very reluctant to prescribe those


135 posted on 01/15/2019 10:55:37 AM PST by wild74
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To: LouieFisk
I’d say they’d be a prime candidate for the title!

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?

136 posted on 01/15/2019 10:56:22 AM PST by Bubba Ho-Tep ("The rat always knows when he's in with weasels."--Tom Waits)
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To: LouieFisk

Here’s the logic. The guy wouldn’t go into withdrawal if he quit as a junkie would. There is no physical addiction. Psychological addiction perhaps. Like the 350 lb man stuffing another bag of chips in his pie hole. He wouldn’t be at risk of dying from withdrawals without it, but that bag of chips sure is tasty...


137 posted on 01/15/2019 11:00:44 AM PST by zek157
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To: Mariner

Don’t trust anyone under 60.


138 posted on 01/15/2019 11:02:51 AM PST by BeauBo
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To: BipolarBob
Yeah, try smoking some of that hemp rope. Blah!

Hemp has been a mainstay in rope-making for many centuries.

Hemp was the first plant known to have been domestically cultivated. It was one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber 10,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, an area in present-day Turkey.

Industrial hemp can be refined into a variety of commercial items including rope, paper, textiles, clothing, canvas, ship sails, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, animal feed and more.

The paintings of Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Gainsborough, etc., were primarily painted on hemp canvas, as were practically all canvas paintings at the time.

Some people on this thread claim to know so much but don't realize they are letting their ignorance slip show below their skirt's hem. :-)

139 posted on 01/15/2019 11:03:02 AM PST by HotHunt (Reagan was good but TRUMP IS GREAT!)
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To: HotHunt

Agreed.


140 posted on 01/15/2019 11:04:23 AM PST by BipolarBob (God bless America - except for California.)
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