Older adults using pot more than ever, study says

Older Americans are rolling joints, hitting bongs and eating marijuana edibles more than ever before, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Addiction.

Some reasons: There’s now an unprecedented number of aging adults, with the baby boomer population, and marijuana is becoming increasingly legalized.

Researchers at New York University reviewed information from more than 47,000 adults ages 50 and older.

The study found that marijuana use jumped 71 percent from 2006 to 2013 among people older than 50.

Most marijuana-related studies have focused on the drug’s effects on teens. But more use among people 50 and older sheds light on the need for studies about its effects on older adults.

For example, Benjamin Han, a researcher at New York University, said in a university news release that marijuana might cause falls among older adults, although that hasn’t been studied.

Eight states have voted to legalize recreational marijuana, and 26 have legalized the drug for medicinal use.

The researchers found that only 4 percent of marijuana users in the study said they started using it after age 35. And only 5 percent of adults 50 and older felt that using marijuana once or twice a week was a health threat.

The researchers say the findings underscore a need for further research on marijuana use among older adults.

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Older adults using pot more than ever, study says."