Marijuana use by seniors goes up as boomers age

By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer - Feb. 22, 2010 | MIAMI - In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana. Long a fixture among young people, use of the country's most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set, as the massive generation of baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and '70s grows older.

The number of people aged 50 and older reporting marijuana use in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The rise was most dramatic among 55- to 59-year-olds, whose reported marijuana use more than tripled from 1.6 percent in 2002 to 5.1 percent.

Observers expect further increases as 78 million boomers born between 1945 and 1964 age. For many boomers, the drug never held the stigma it did for previous generations, and they tried it decades ago. Some have used it ever since, while others are revisiting the habit in retirement, either for recreation or as a way to cope with the aches and pains of aging.  Visit: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35517361/?GT1=43001 for full text, comments and to leave yours.

LAPD reports 250%-265% retail markup at Los Angeles dispensaries

By "Radical" Russ Belville: NORML Outreach Coordinator on January 28, 2010 | (LA Weekly) Despite the protestations of numerous medical weed store owners, who regularly gripe that they're just making ends meet, Los Angeles Police Department found a detailed list of the hefty profits made on different marijuana strains sold at three pot shops owned by the same man, Richard Khoury. Over 50 Los Angeles Police Department narcotics detectives and officers served search warrants today on Alternative Care Collective, 420 Discount Collective and Encino Discount Collective in the San Fernando Valley after neighbors complained about people selling pot to teenagers outside the locations.

Khoury, a 30-year-old former construction worker, bought a gram of Obama Kush for $10.71 from a pot vendor, then sold it to his patients for $37.50. That's a whopping profit of $26.79! Another strain, OG Skywalker, cost Khoury $10.49, and he sold it for $37.77 - a more than respectable return of $27.28.   Read more ... <<<

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