Nine years ago, voters in Colorado and Washington became the first to approve recreational marijuana, over the objections of top Democrats in those states.
This week, legislators in Democratic-led New York and New Mexico struck deals that will make them the 16th and 17th states to legalize pot. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) even went so far as to call New Mexico’s legislature back into special session to pass the measures this year before she faces voters in her 2022 bid for a second term.
Every day, Helen Narke battles a burning sensation in her mouth that is never expected to go away.
It's caused by neuropathy – a type of nerve damage resulting from numerous conditions – that she said stems from a dental injury from several years ago.
Narke has used prescription narcotics to relieve the pain, but the medications left her in daze. When she wasn't sleeping – which was often – she turned dysfunctional. In turn, she said her relationships with her immediate family devolved and her desire to live lessened.
A study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence this month suggests that increasing numbers of middle aged and older adults are using marijuana — and using it a lot.
The analysis comes from data gathered in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2015 and 2016. About 9 percent of U.S. adults between ages 50 and 64 used marijuana in the the previous year, according to survey results. About 3 percent of people over 65 used the drug in that time period.