1 yr. ago • 97%

Marijuana and hallucinogen use, binge drinking reached record highs in middle-aged adults, survey finds

www.cnn.com Marijuana and hallucinogen use, binge drinking reached record highs among middle-aged adults, survey finds | CNN

Last year, more middle-aged adults were binge drinking, using marijuana or consuming hallucinogens than ever before, according to a new report. Cannabis use surged among young adults under 30, alongside historic rates of vaping, as well.

94 comments

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Is anyone really surprised cannabis use surged? Like with legalization you would think it would have that cause and effect.

Im glad psychedelic use surged. Makes you see reality differently and can be amazing for mental health issues which needs to be utilized. Fuck the war on drugs

Alcohol can go away though but it’s hard when there is quite literally no future to be seen

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- If I recall the research, increases are pretty slight from legalization.
  
  COVID and the largest disruption to social and economic conditions in human history is the alpha and omega for pretty much anything that significantly changed in the last three years.
  
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  it's kinda hard to give a fuck about public health regarding cannabis when watching the complete apathy for COVID precautions.
  
  oh, cannabis makes some people think slower? you sure that wasn't brain damage from a deadly virus?
  
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  I’d be curious on this research. I could be completely wrong but I feel like with legalization and having the conveniency of dispensaries it would mean more frequent use and even new use. Do you know if this research was for why they used and not if they would of used it wasn’t legal and didn’t have dispensaries?
  
  5
- Alcohol can go away though but it’s hard when there is quite literally no future to be seen
  
  This hits hard.
  
  21
  
  Same here. Might as well surf the piss till you find the light at the end of the tube.
  
  3
- Im glad psychedelic use surged. Makes you see reality differently and can be amazing for mental health issues which needs to be utilized. Fuck the war on drugs
  
  I would still be on SSRIs if it wasn’t for my magic mushies, and they’ve done better than SSRIs ever did.
  
  7
  
  I've started growing some for this exact purpose. How do you dose and what form do you take them?
  
  2
  
  I want to use mushrooms again but I went on SSRIs. They changed my life for the better and without them I probably wouldn't have tried an SSRI. Mushrooms seem better. I only did low doses but went through about an oz of shrooms over the time I used them.
  
  1
- I became an alcoholic.
  
  It's a shitty drug.
  
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- Permanently Deleted
  
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  Alcohol will remain my favorite drug until they come out with drugs that are more fun than alcohol.
  
  I've done just about everything but heroin, and whole heroin does seem really fun, the externalities are too big to ignore.
  
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- Several cities (including my own) and Oregon have decriminalized hallucinogenic mushrooms so it is not a huge surprise that rates increased.
  
  2
- I mean I agree the war on drugs and the way it’s policed is not the right call. But after looking at what’s happening in Oregon. Not sure I’m totally for just straight up legalize all the things. OD rates are up, and apparently it’s quite common for folks to be nodding off all over the place. It’s not the psechedelics like marijuana and lsd, it’s the synthetic opioids and harder drugs like heroin doing real damage.
  
  https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/07/oregon-drug-decriminalization-results-overdoses/674733/
  
  0
  
  Does anyone have a way to read the article without an account?
  
  Oregon was setup to fail with it. The US is setup to fail right now. We can’t even agree that addiction is a mental health issue and should be addressed with therapy vs jail. Fentanyl will never be solved, let’s be real. Feds help bring it in.
  
  Now if you set up clinics for people to do drugs safely AND gave them access to clean drugs it’s a completely different story.
  
  It’s also not like that is unique to Oregon. Go to Seattle and you’ll see tons of people nodding and OD rates are higher everywhere
  
  3
- Just like how the people in the US are surprised how many people are willing to say "I'm queer" now that queer people have a voice.
  
  0
Binge drinking is the misuse of alcohol. But use to excess isn't implied here for cannabis or hallucinogens.

It's like comparing increases in murder, jay walking and loitering; just not very helpful really.

64
Almost like the younger generations got absolutely stalled and now have rough futures thanks to climate change.

53
- Throw in a decade or two of “marijuana is bad and will leave you addicted and homeless” just to grow up and find out “nope that was primarily just a few greedy bastards shoving opiates down our throats” and wham, you’ve got yourself a generation primed for escapism.
  
  46
  
  Hatred will not be humanity's end.
  
  Greed will.
  
  3
The Wealthy Boomers stole the future from their own kids eyes wide open, now they and their devoted lackeys want to bitch about the swaths of disaffected, that they caused, numbing the pain of that reality.

What do they want? For us to thank them for the opportunity to have to clean up the multi-generational fallout of their economic, cultural, and ecological damage and be grateful for it? Fuck off with that.

Humanity will eventually overcome the lead poisoned generation's kneecapping of it, but don't expect anyone to start whistling about it.

33
Hmmmm. Let's see.

A world on the brink of all-out war again, political parties diving head first into the shallow end of fascism, and increasing signs that mother earth is going to shake us off like a bad case of the fleas.

Yep. Pass the bong brothers and sisters and don't skimp on the micro-dose.

28
- Turn that micro-dose into a macro-dose and I'm in!
  
  7
Now how do we start slipping Republicans cannabis brownies so they lighten the fuck up?

20
- A high Nazi is still a Nazi. They don't need to lighten up they need to be excised like tumors, good thing pot can help with tumors
  
  17
  
  Yeah, the Ku Klux Klan smoked weed and it didn't chill them out
  
  On a somewhat related note - man, Jeff Sessions was and is an asshole
  
  6
Gen-X and millennials are getting old and their habits never changed. Film at eleven.

14
Might as well, not like any of us have a future. The most you can hope for is you live past retirement age and get to eat cat food and lay in your own filth in a nursing home. We could fix all our problems easily step 1. Don't listen to the economists step 2. Don't listen to the shamens, but we won't.

So smoke them if you got them.

10
Binge drinking aside; weed being legalized in a number of states over the past decade, in addition to this generation realizing the war on drugs was pure nonsense, yeah of course people enjoy getting high. More than likely their reporting is that more people are comfortable admitting they like to party due to society's relaxing views on drug use.

10
Now if we could just get them elected.

9
GENX RULEZ!

MILLENNIUMALES DROOL!

9
More people just admit now. The drinking is always concerning

9
I'm in my forties and last year I got a wild hair and thought that I should try cannabis at least once in my life, and I bought a gummy to try. I spent all night waiting for anything to happen, and just ended up going to bed. I'm missing out on what these people in the article are doing I guess because that was just boring.

9
- It's very common to not feel anything the first time. I don't know if there is a scientific reason why, I'd be interested to see a study on it. My guess is dosing issues and maybe preconceptions getting in the way.
  
  You can always try again with a higher dose and/or different delivery method. Edibles especially are difficult to dose because they kick in 2h+ after ingestion and heavily depend on metabolism. Inhalation is essentially immediate.
  
  7
  
  Yeah, edibles are often really weak for me, even when they work. Try smoking or vaping for a better sense of what it's like.
  
  5
  
  What dose should I use?
  
  1
- Broken arm and they wouldn't give me any pain meds, I decided to try cannabis. Best painkiller ever. Now I pop a gummy just about every Saturday night, or before a flight. As a whole it is enjoyable but for four or so hours I am pretty much useless. With booze I can still get some stuff done.
  
  5
- You might just not be affected by gummies, other edibles may work for you. If you're in a legal state, tinctures and vape carts are a good way to experience it.
  
  I'm like you in that edibles really don't affect me (I've had close to a gram before I felt anything), but I enjoy microdosing with THC carts.
  
  2
  
  Maybe I'm not. I'm also on naltrexone (not for substance abuse) and I wonder if that mutes the effect.
  
  1
- I remember my friends and I smoked like $500 in weed in one night to celebrate our high school graduation. It was my first time. The only difference I remember feeling is my throat hurting and getting the munchies.
  
  2
  
  Yeah I ate some cereal and went to bed. Big whoop.
  
  1
- I can honestly eat a herculean dose of THC before I start to feel anything. It could be you're like me and need a super high dose, although the drowsiness is indicative that there was some psychoactive effect. In short - try again and eat double.
  
  1
  
  Ok I'll buy more Cheerios lol.
  
  1
It's cause we don't stigmatize weed and hallucinogens like past generations have. The booze is probably because of COVID, or that we're just all a bit depressed with being fucked over by life in general. Booze has always been there, but weed and hallucinogens don't leave you fucking hungover.

9
hits the bong hell ya it did!

8
'historic rates of vaping, as well' it's not like we have a huge stretch of time to be making these kinds of claims lbr lol

8
Smoking weed or consuming cannabinoids and binge drinking are two completely different categories.

Alcohol is more unhealthy and potentially connected to social issues right from the drop, and regular binge drinking implies alcoholism as opposed to someone who might be consuming cannabis moderately.

In the end, taking cannabis and/or alcohol in moderation is perfectly ok for adults and shouldn't be something that we consider taboo.

6
- I don't think that's the right takeaway for this story. It's not meant to be a comparison between the activities. The fact that there's a marked rise in all of these categories, though, is still a concern, because they're all unhealthy habits which point to a larger societal issue at hand.
  
  1
  
  I wonder what could be causing that?
  
  2
Life sucks. If you can't be happy naturally, look to a chemical solution.

6
Historic rates of vaping?

Yeah, the product isn't even 20 years old yet. I am in the process of quitting right now.

4
S'all we know brah.

4
Omg I’m 35 next month. I’ll be considered middle age. Fuuuuuuck.. At least I’ll contribute to the non-binge drinking since I’m sober.

3
huh. i guess I did more than my fair share of that growing up - just dont see the point these days (plus that shit is expensive)

2
- Back then it was for fun. Now it’s for the numbing effects.
  
  6
  
  i suppose I can see how that'd be helpful. i personally have discovered that as I get older I need less numbing - quality of life has improved quite a bit so perhaps thats why? not sure - sample size of one & all
  
  2
Weed is legal all over the place now. I mean, duh.

1
- And you know...
  
  *gestures broadly*
  
  9
Like the pic, looks like a crack pipe, not weed... But maybe it's a strange bong lol idk

1
- Nah, that’s just a medium sized glass pipe. I used to use them all the time. Harsh pulls, but really convenient to share.
  
  11
  
  Shouldn't share anything that touches lips, you can spread disease this way
  
  4
- That's a standard issue weed pipe
  
  Source: guess
  
  4
- Glass pipes are alright for hashish, still wouldn't recommend it because it burns your throat and lungs harshly.
  
  2
- That’s just a bowl, pretty common for smoking.
  
  1
Ya think?!

-1
{ Looks around and shrugs }

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