Nearly three-fourths of older Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use." That's the message delivered in a Fall 2004 opinion poll sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
Actually, the elders contributing to the poll sent a mixed message. The message consisted of two conflicting "truths". "Marijuana offers medical benefits, and marijuana offers severe health risks." Here's the lesson to be learned, "don't believe everything you hear, especially if it's a half-truth.
Seventy percent of respondents reported, according to AARP, that "adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it." That statement reads more like support for following a doctor's advice, rather than a blanket approval of an illegal drug like marijuana.
More importantly, the AARP survey found that 69 percent of those age 70-plus believe marijuana had no medical benefits. Eighty-three percent of that age group also agreed that marijuana is addictive. 74 percent of all those surveyed say marijuana is addictive. This conclusion is supported in the research literature. For example, log on to studies at the National Institutes of Health and search for articles on mental illness and marijuana use. Additionally, peer-reviewed scientific research journals, such as the British Medical Journal, continue to report staggering relationships between pot use and increased incidence depression, schizophrenia, suicidal behavior, and other psychosis. Risk levels to mental illness run 50 to 300 percent higher among users of marijuana.
The old-old are not the only ones at risk. Middle-aged pot users increase their risk of a heart attack by more than 400% during the first hour after smoking the drug, according to researchers attending the American Heart Association conference as far back as year 2000. "We found that during the first hour after marijuana use, the risk of a heart attack is 4.8 times higher than during periods of non-use," said researcher Murray A. Mittleman, M.D.
"To my knowledge, this is the first study to document that smoking marijuana can trigger a heart attack," said researcher Murray A. Mittleman, M.D., specialist in cardiovascular epidemiology. "These effects may pose significant risk, especially in people with unrecognized coronary disease."
A sizable percentage of baby boomers use marijuana, either frequently or occasionally" said Mittleman. "They should at least be aware that their risk of a heart attack suddenly soars each time they smoke the drug." The risk, said Mittleman, is increasing for baby boomers reaching the age when the risk of coronary heart disease increases for both men and women."
"Given the mounting evidence regarding the negative effects of both marijuana and smoking in general, it's surprising that educated, mature adults continue to take such risks", says AgeVenture News Editor, Dr. David Demko. "These revelations don't support the old notion that with age comes wisdom". A thought that begs the question, "Pot for elders ... what is AARP smoking?"
AgeVenture News Service,
www.demko.com