Baby Boomers Embrace Marijuana (again)
It’s no secret that younger people are typically more in favor of changing our country’s failed marijuana laws than older people, but marijuana use among seniors is on the rise.
According to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration use among people 50 and older who report using marijuana in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent in 2002 to 2.9 percent in 2008. Marijuana use among 55- to 59-year-olds has more than tripled during that same time period (1.6 percent in 2002 to 5.1 percent in 2008).
Among the group of seniors who now use marijuana is 67 year old Perry Parks, a retired Army pilot who suffers from crippling pain from degenerative disc disease and arthritis. He has tried all sorts of prescription drugs, but found little success. However, he found relief two years ago after using something he tried in college, marijuana. He says by using marijuana he realized he “could get by without the narcotics,” referring to prescription painkillers. Parks says he is now “essentially pain free.”
Will the nation’s 78 million baby boomers stand up against the status quo one last time and lead the effort to end this country’s failed war on marijuana? We sure hope so.
February 22, 2010 39 Comments
Support for Marijuana Legalization Growing Rapidly
There is a great article in today’s Washington Post about the momentum behind marijuana policy reform. You can read the full version on their Web site.
We need to encourage the media to produce fair and balanced coverage of this issue — something they haven’t always done but are slowly beginning to. Please share this article with your friends and family or vote for it on digg.com:
http://digg.com/educational/Support_For_Legalizing_Marijuana_Gaining_Ground_Rapidly
November 23, 2009 23 Comments
New Poll Shows Record Support for Legalization
A new Gallup poll released today shows 44% support for making marijuana legal in the U.S., a record high for this particular poll. The poll also shows 53% support in the west.
While we’ve seen higher numbers in the past, and the level of support varies from poll to poll, this recent number shows a trend that’s undeniable: Americans are quickly realizing that taxing and regulating marijuana is preferable to prohibition.
The chart below shows the change in attitudes among various groups. Notice that all of them have increased since 2005.
October 19, 2009 31 Comments
The Marijuana Law Tipping Point
Yesterday marked the first time in history that a nationwide poll showed majority support for taxing and regulating marijuana (at 52%). The poll, conducted by Zogby International at the end of April, was also one of the largest sample sizes of any national polls on the subject, with almost 4,000 respondents and a margin of error of +/- 1.6%. [Read more →]
May 7, 2009 20 Comments
10 Good Signs for Reform in ’09
After MPP passed the medical marijuana ballot initiative in Michigan and the marijuana decriminalization ballot initiative in Massachusetts — both on November 4 — I thought the MPP staff might get a little downtime to regroup for the 2009-2010 election cycle. Not so.
In the last four months, the MPP staff and our allies have been working almost nonstop to respond to — and take advantage of — the many opportunities that have been presenting themselves across the country. I’ve never seen so much evidence of positive change in such a short amount of time … [Read more →]
March 6, 2009 21 Comments
