Who says elders can’t have any fun? According to a recent study, more of them are getting high than ever before, and with legalization sweeping the nation, those numbers only seem to be growing.
The study, published Thursday in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, revealed that roughly 9% of US adults between the ages of 50 and 64 have consumed marijuana at least once in the past year, while 3% of those over 65 have. In other words, the percentage of cannabis users has nearly doubled in middle-aged folks over the past decade, while increasing nearly seven-fold among older adults in the same period.
While the numbers certainly look surprising, the study is quick to note that this isn’t just the case of older folks lighting up for the first time. “Most of these people are not first-time users,” said Joseph Palamar, the study’s senior author and associate professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU’S Langone Medical Center. “I don’t think we need to worry about millions of older people trying weed for the first time,” Palamar continued. “At least not yet.”
It’s widely known that Baby Boomers have more experience with marijuana than previous generations. More than half (almost 55%) of middle-age adults have used marijuana at some point in their lives, while over a fifth (about 22%) of older adults have done so, said Palamar and the study’s lead author, Dr. Benjamin Han, a geriatric practitioner and assistant professor at NYU’S School of Medicine.
“I get asked more and more by older patients if they should try marijuana, mostly for sleep or pain,” said Han. “Marijuana may be therapeutically useful for a variety of symptoms and medical conditions, but the research in this area is extremely limited.”
Indeed, most doctors today agree more studies are needed to properly evaluate the risk/benefit trade-off that comes with marijuana use, particularly among older people. Still, that doesn’t seem to be prompting baby boomers to give up the greens anytime soon. In fact, Hans believes these numbers will only increase as legalization becomes more prevalent and cannabis more mainstream.
So the next time you go pay a visit to grandma, don’t be surprised to find her hitting the same pen you are. Who knows, she might even give you a hit form her medical stash…
