Baby boomers increasingly using cannabis, study finds

Kelly Gooch -

Older Americans are increasingly getting high, according to a study published Monday in the journal Addiction.

For the study, researchers at New York University School of Medicine analyzed 47,140 survey responses from adults age 50 and older. The responses were collected in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health survey from 2006 to 2013.

Researchers found the prevalence of cannabis use in the last year among baby boomers increased significantly from 2006-2007 to 2012-2013, with a 57.8 percent relative increase for adults age 50 to 64 and a 250 percent relative increase for those age 65 and older.

When researchers combined data from 2006 to 2013, they found 6.9 percent of older cannabis users met criteria for cannabis abuse or dependence, and the majority of the sample reported perceiving no risk or slight risk associated with monthly cannabis use (85.3 percent) or weekly use (79 percent). Past-year cannabis users were more likely to be younger, male, non-Hispanic, not have multiple chronic conditions and use tobacco, alcohol or other drugs compared with non-past-year cannabis users, according to the study.

 

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