Marijuana use continues to grow among baby boomers [View all]

[Zorro]

Marijuana use is becoming more prevalent among middle-aged and older adults, with 9 percent of adults aged 50-64 and nearly 3 percent of adults 65 and older reporting marijuana use in the past year, according to a study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine and the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing.

These new figures, which use data from 2015-2016, demonstrate a substantial increase in marijuana use over the past near-decade -- double the percentage of adults aged 50-64 (4.5 percent) and more than seven times the percentage of adults 65 and older (0.4 percent) reporting use in 2006-2007.

The new findings, published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, build on an earlier Addiction study by the same researchers to illustrate this growing trend among baby boomers.

Attitudes towards marijuana use are changing in the U.S., with a growing number of states legalizing medical and recreational marijuana. Although marijuana users are more likely to be young adults, the baby boomer generation is unique, having more experience with recreational use of drugs than previous generations.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180906100458.htm