Conventional wisdom dictates that as younger generations slowly replace
the old, conservative social traditions are jettisoned. This may be
true for issues such as gay marriage, where there are clear divisions
among younger and older voters, but when it comes to marijuana reform,
the evidence indicates that simplistic divisions of opinion along age
lines don't apply for pot.
Earlier this week, an AP wire article
picked up a lot of buzz in the news-cycle, with a title and premise
meant to shock the mainstream: "Marijuana Use by Seniors Goes up as
Boomers Age."
The AP article was pegged to a December report
released by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA). It revealed that the number of Americans over
50 who had reported consuming cannabis in the year prior to the study
had gone up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent in the period from 2002 to
2008.
This is supported by earlier polling results. In February 2009, a Zogby poll
found that voters aged 50 to 64 were almost equally divided in their
support for marijuana legalization at 48 percent. In that same poll,
young voters aged 18 to 29 were the cohort who most enthusiastically
supported legalization, at 55 percent. But overall support among all
ages came in at 44 percent.
So who brought the average down? Don't lay the blame on the elderly. In fact, as early as 2004, an AARP poll found that 72 percent
of its members (all 50-plus, with the lion's share over 65) supported
marijuana for medical purposes, indicating their understanding of the
benefits of legal cannabis availability.
Why Growing Numbers of Baby Boomers and the Elderly Are Smoking Pot
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By Daniela Perdomo
AlterNet, Feb 26, 2010
Straight to the Source
