Grandma wants to smoke your marijuana, and grandpa’s micro dosing: A new study shows that older Americans are choosing to use marijuana, and don’t see it as risky behavior.
“For years we’ve been worried about the potential effects of marijuana on the developing brains of teens, but now we may need a bit more focus on their grandparents, who are increasingly more likely to be current users,” Dr. Joseph J. Palamar of New York University, one of the lead authors of the study, told The Independent.
The Independent reports:
Researchers investigated cannabis use among over-50s by evaluating responses from 47,140 US adults who took part in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The study published in Addiction revealed a 71 per cent increase in marijuana use among adults between 2006 and 2013, particularly among those aged between 50 and 64. Men were also shown to be more likely to use the drug than women.
“Given the unprecedented aging of the US population, we are facing a never before seen cohort of older adults who use recreational drugs,” commented Dr. Benjamin Han, a geriatrician and health services researcher at NYU.
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These findings are surprising, since older generations are generally stereotyped as risk-averse. Very few Baby Boomers consider marijuana use risky, the study found, perhaps because they grew up in a time when marijuana was celebrated in counterculture.
