Study: Middle-aged top teens in 'pot' use

New federal data show a reversal of the stereotype of marijuana as an indulgence reserved for the young and the reckless. Middle-aged Americans are now slightly more likely to use marijuana than their teenage children.

The research, released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that only 7.4 percent of Americans aged 12 to 17 years old smoked marijuana regularly in 2014, a 10 percent decline since 2002. But 8 percent of 35- to 44-year-olds used marijuana regularly in 2014, surpassing use among teens for the first time since at least 2002.

And it's not just middle-aged folks who are indulging more often. Since 2002, regular marijuana use among Americans age 45 to 54 has jumped by nearly 50 percent. Among those ages 55 to 64, it's jumped by 455 percent.

And among senior citizens, those older than 65, monthly marijuana use is up 333 percent since 2002.

"During the last 13 years, marijuana use (i.e., past-month marijuana use) has steadily increased in the United States, particularly among people aged 26 years or older," report author Alejandro Azofeifa said in an email. "Older groups had a significant increase of marijuana use in the past month."

To put it another way: If trends continue, marijuana use among those 50 and older could be higher than use among teens in a few years.

There are several factors that could explain rising marijuana-use rates among the middle-age-and-up crowd. The first is the growing prevalence of medical marijuana, which is now allowed in 25 states and Washington, D.C. Older Americans are increasingly turning to medical pot to treat some of the common ailments of old age, like sleeplessness, aches and arthritis pain.

Another explanation: Aging boomers seem to be taking advantage of loosening restrictions to relive some of the recreational indulgences of their youth.

A Section on 09/03/2016

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