Marijuana Legalization Demographic Shift in Marijuana Use

American pensioners are indulging in more than the occasional Werther’s Original as they approach their twilight years, swapping their tartan rugs and sheepskin-lined slippers for joints and bongs.

A new US government report predicts that over the coming decade, as America’s 78 million baby-boomers grow older, stoned grandpas and grandmas will be commonplace — especially in parts of the country where marijuana can be obtained legally for medicinal purposes. Political analysts believe that this demographic shift in marijuana use is likely to hasten the drug’s full legalisation across the US.

The report, by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, claims that the number of 55 to 59-year-olds in the US using marijuana has more than tripled since 2002 to 5.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, about 2.9 per cent of Americans over 50 are now getting highregularly, a jump of more than 50 per cent since the early days of the second Bush Administration.

Users of marijuana have long claimed that it works as a treatment for the aches and pains of ageing, particularly arthritis, and that it is also an effective sleeping medication.

On top of this, Americans approaching the age of 60 were teenagers during the Vietnam War in the 1960s, when smoking marijuana became an integral part of the hippie movement.

One such user is Florence Seigel, a married 88-year-old from Miami, Florida. She lists her pleasures in life as red wine, newspapers, classic music — and her marijuana pipe.

Indeed, Mrs Seigel, who walks with a cane and suffers from arthritis in her back and her legs, says that she cannot understand why anyone approaching their 90th birthday wouldn’t use the drug to ease the physical discomforts of ageing. “They’re missing a lot of fun and a lot of relief,” she said.

Perry Parks, 67, of Rockingham, North Carolina, agreed. The retired army pilot, who suffers from a degenerative disease, said that he tried all kinds of legal medications with little success. But then, two years ago, he started using marijuana, which he had not touched since college.

“I realised I could get by without the narcotics,” Mr Parks said, referring to prescription painkillers. “I am essentially pain free.”

Doctors urge caution, however. Marijuana use can cause dizziness, they say, which may increase the likelihood of falls. It can also heighten confusion in older people, many of whom will already be experiencing some cognitive impairment from early-stage dementia.

“There are other, better, ways to achieve the same effects,” William Dale, the chief of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Centre, said.