AR: Marijuana And Baby Boomers - Not A Case Of Re-marrying Your Ex, Expert Says

[Ron Strider]

The relationship America's Baby Boomer generation has with marijuana cannot be explained by teenage infatuation, followed by early adulthood ambition, followed finally by later-life acceptance, says Brookings Institution senior fellow John Hudak.

"I think that one of the important things to caution about when thinking about the Baby Boomer generation is that they are often characterized as a bunch of hippies smoking weed and having sex. In reality, marijuana use always was and continued to be something that is done by a small percentage of the population."

Popular images of the Baby Boomers who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s fostered the notion that marijuana was a regular part of recreation, from music festivals to basement parties.

"And so, even within that ... age cohort of people who brought marijuana into the mainstream, there was still a lot of public opinion movement that needed to happen in order for public opinion to get where it is today," or from roughly 20 percent acceptance, or a preference for decriminalization, to roughly 50 percent today.

As part of Arkansas Public Media's ongoing coverage of Arkansas's first-in-the-Bible-Belt medical marijuana rollout, I spoke with Hudak about the history of marijuana criminalization in the United States, the conflict between the Baby Boomer counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s followed closely by President Richard Nixon's War on Drugs, and finally, the tidal shift in acceptance of marijuana as an intoxicant that should be legalized but regulated alongside alcohol. The first half of the interview can be heard here.

"In 1990, support for marijuana was hovering around 20 percent, which was really about as low as it'd been throughout most of Gallup's asking about it. This is again for recreational use. By the mid-2010s, you see an increase of about 40 percentage points. You see a tripling of support, up to about 60 percent.

That change, he said, is partly generational turnover. The generations today that is least accepting of marijuana as a legal part of the country's life and culture are the so-called Greatest and Silent generations, while Generation X and Millenials are most accepting.

"And so, as [the oldest generations] die off, they are being replaced by young people, people turning 18, entering the electorate, with the highest levels of support, and so that generational change can explain some of that, but not all of the change. Something else is happening too, and that is people are changing their minds on marijuana."

News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana And Baby Boomers – Not A Case Of Re-marrying Your Ex, Expert Says | KUAR
Author: Bobby Ampezzan
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Website: KUAR

 

[RockyMountainHigh]

"And so, as [the oldest generations] die off, they are being replaced by young people, people turning 18, entering the electorate, with the highest levels of support...."

So younger and foolish is taking the place of older and wiser where legalized marijuana is concerned? Yes, seems to be the point.....

 

[LiaK]

I think the point was missed entirely. It's not about the elderly being replaced by teenagers. The strongest voting block is still 40-65 years old. It's about the attrition of pre boomers, who were much more susceptible to government and large corporate propaganda, and their replacement by hippies and boomers.

We have learned the lessons of prohibition and seen the strangle hold that man made opiates, from oxicodon to heroin, have on our people and our nation. We know we need to free ourselves and our children from those chains.

 

[RockyMountainHigh]

As with alcohol, some would say that 'freeing' us from drug restrictions may just enslave us to new addictions. But seriously, I don't see legalized marijuana as being any worse than legalized alcohol. Probably better in fact, as the numerous negatives of alcohol consumption are well known. But I'm not for the government interferring in all these aspects of our lives. I'm just hoping that legalizing marijuana doesn't serve as a gateway to legalizing drugs like cocaine and meth.

 

[mlang52]

Rocky,

Why would you not understand the problem with illegal drugs are their illegal status. There are so many reasons that regulating drugs and making sure people that are dependent can get a safe supply is needed. The drugs sold on the black market are of unknown dose and purity. Most opiate over-doses are, as of late, Fentanyl that is being clandestinely manufactured and used to lace the diamorphine (heroin by another name). The use of naloxone to treat over-doses would also be added to this with injection centers to help prevent accidents. But, with known purity and content, the "heroin" would be less lethal, to begin with. With less need for street dealers, they would be put out of business. (They alone, are one of the biggest reasons kids are offered the "bad drugs".) The decriminalization of heroin in Portugal has been reported to decrease new addicts, and more are reported to be treated for their addictions. It was also reported that there is less cannabis use, too! Studies in our country have shown that teen use has gone down in states where cannabis is "old people's medicine". I would prefer cannabis use to alcohol. I have lost four or five relatives the past decade to alcohol. I have had other uncles and cousins who had to quit because they, too, were alcoholics. People die from alcohol overdose. Sadly, the withdrawal from alcohol is more deadly than that of "heroin". So, my opinion is that ridding ourselves of the drug war, by legalizing all drugs, would make sense. I have a graduate school education, plus a medical school education. I was a board certified general surgeon before breaking my back and becoming disabled. I was certified in Pain Management, as well. I assure you, my feelings on the subject has been well researched. With my experience in pain management, before my spinal cord injury, I became aware of the many problems associated with trying to enforce the "war on drugs". Most of them make that war on drugs more dangerous than the drugs themselves. Amphetamines and cocaine are both class 2 pharmaceutical drugs.

P.S. I thought that I, also, might mention that it is alien to my thinking as to why anyone would abuse their medication. I have understood about addiction since I was a child. Why would anyone abuse them, with their inherent risks? What makes people use addictive drugs? Mostly, it is mental health problems that lead to addiction. Pain patients did not abuse their drugs. At least, the patients I saw did not. Being dependent on pain relief is not addiction. Scientific studies exist that back that up, as well.