ILLICIT DRUG USE RISING FOR 50+ CROWD

[MindMover]

Cocaine, heroin, amphetamines and other drugs are, stereotypically, vices of teenagers and young adults who get caught up with the wrong crowd. But illicit drug use is becoming increasingly common among older generations, too, at least in England.

A new study that surveyed thousands of British found that, in less than a decade, there has been a tenfold increase in the number of people, ages 50 to 64, who said they had recently used marijuana. For people 65 to 74, the number of recent pot-smokers was twice as high in 2007 as it was in 2000.

When the researchers looked at overall lifetime use, they also found a tenfold increase for amphetamines, cocaine and LSD from 1993 to 2007 in 50- to 64-year-olds.

Cannabis was by far the most commonly used drug among older people, with just under 2 percent of Brits in the 50-64 group and 0.4 percent of the 65-plus group saying they had used it in the last year. Rates were higher in inner London, where 9 percent of 50- to 64-year-olds said they had used marijuana and related drugs in the previous year, and 42 percent said they had used it at some point in their lives.

http://news.discovery.com/human/drug-use-rising-elderly-120406.html#mkcpgn=twsci1

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[RKP5637]

7. Hell, bring in the drones. This is a national security issue, older people

getting high on pot. Imagine the profits for the profiteers in making more drones, and then rebuilding buildings.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I imagine that's because the people that were brainwashed by the likes of

"reefer madness" propaganda are passing on.

I don't believe illegal drugs should be glorified but the "War on Drugs" mentality of turning what should be an educational, medical and personal privacy issue in to a criminal one, has been disastrous to our society on multiple levels.

Thanks for the thread, MindMover.

[Warpy]

3. That's about the time your body starts to hurt

and you don't have nearly as much energy due to the muscle wasting that comes with age no matter how many days you spend at the gym.

Old folks are turning to drugs to try to compete with young folks because the old folks can't afford to retire and rest those aching bodies the way they need to.

End the drug war. Just end it, period.

[Egalitarian Thug]

4. I don't use drugs anymore, but

I don't use them any less either!

Drug users are just getting older now and we're bringing our choices with us into new demographics. Boldly toking where no geezers have toked before!
And think of the thousands of dollars I'm keeping out of the hands of Big Pharma.

If I'm alive in 20 years I fully intend to take up heroin, too.

[Downwinder]

5. Could be because of cannabis anti-cancer properties.

Non-users are not surviving.

[freshwest]

6. Cocaine, heroin and amphetamines haven't usually worked well for those with heart conditions.

Probably decided they might as well go out with a bang, unless they have strong constitutions that can handle it. As far as the pot, it's probably a neutral drug, healthwise.

[ohheckyeah]

8. I'm shocked and horrified.

So the older generation prefers pot to the government approved drugs that have 100 times the side effects?

[Ship of Fools]

9. Who'da thunk? Damn ol' hippies.

[treestar]

10. Could it be generational?

They were the first generation doing those drugs in their teens at least in large numbers. Mick Jagger is in his sixties, right? Old people of today are people who were hip once.

[kestrel91316]

14. Exactly. They already know from prior experience that it's essentially harmless.

Such is my case. I went to college in the 70's. Do the math.

[waddirum]

19. from what I've read...

...there has always been widespread drug usage by teenagers and young adults. Even before the 60s. In the 20s to the 50s, lots of kids took some form of illicit substances. Methamphetamine was legal and available over-the-counter until the late 60s. Most of the Axis troops and certainly many of the Allied troops were on Meth. In certain areas of the country, one could readily obtain LSD from their Psychiatrist.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. Hey, we're still hip. n/t

[Taverner]

11. "You gotta be crazy NOT to do drugs at that age!"

[K Gardner]

12. So.. if I start using drugs, I don't have to worry about long-term care..

they'll just build a new prison-industrial complex for the Baby Boomers !

[kestrel91316]

13. When I went this weekend to get my MMJ rec/card every single person waiting there to be seen was

1) White
2) Straight, middle-class-looking
3) Older than me, and I'm 55

[Buzz cook]

15. Self medicating

Most people, even those with insurance, aren't getting the treatments they need. This is especially true of pain management.

[kestrel91316]

18. I'm gonna grow my own meds rather than use the collectives, just to be on the safe side.

DOJ said they weren't going to go after the individual patients in CA as long as they are compliant with state law, but I don't trust them any more than I can throw them. With any luck, the 6 seeds en route will include one male and I won't ever need to order even seeds again.

[Blue_In_AK]

23. Trust me on this.

I haven't bought a seed in nine years. You'll do fine.

[KG]

16. wish i could afford to buy some good weed...

or find a conx.

[bart95]

17. First, they came for the stoners, but I

like, you know, uh

what was the question again?

[Submariner]

20. This could be totally disastrous for Applebees and like restaurants

Either the elderly stoners will sleep past the "Early Bird Special" meal time, or, if it's "all you can eat night" have a mass munchy attack and clean out the food bins.

Watch "Prison" on MSNBC weekends and I'm sure we'll see these ILLICIT DRUG USERS trashing their cells for a Doobie real soon.

[Blue_In_AK]

21. Well, duh, we all get older.

What did they think? That all the '60s pot smokers and LSD takers would die off or stop using? Please...

[Art_from_Ark]

24. They were thinking the '60s generation would move on to "approved" drugs

despite the "cure is worse than the disease" tone that is so common with those drug commercials.

[Motown_Johnny]

25. I stopped but I know a lot of people my age who haven't

and some have died off.

[slackmaster]

26. Driven to it by their kids, no doubt

[Logical]

27. I am 53 and wish Pot was legal in some state. I would love to try it once.

[Odin2005]

28. Boomers getting high? You don't say?

[REP]

29. Hippies get older; they don't lose the will to party

I remember when 53 sounded old to me. Now it's just 6 years away ...

[Yavin4]

30. Just Great. Now The Republicans Will Want to Drug Test Medicare and Social Security Recipients n/t

[MindMover]

31. ..............

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[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/5583217875/]web-image-b1ed2e44f6fe76ed38895008ce2039ea[/url]

[aspieextrodinare]

32. Anyone else thinking about the movie Little Miss Sunshine

Sheryl: [to Frank] He started snorting heroin.
Frank: [to Grandpa] You started snorting heroin?
Grandpa: [in response to Frank, aimed at Dwayne] Let me tell ya, don't do that stuff. When you're young, you're crazy to do that shit.
Frank: [to Grandpa] Well what about you?
Grandpa: [to Frank] What about me? I'm old. When you're old you're crazy not to do it.