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. 2017 Feb 1:171:97-106.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.11.031. Epub 2016 Dec 14.

Trends and correlates of marijuana use among late middle-aged and older adults in the United States, 2002-2014

Christopher P Salas-Wright  1 , Michael G Vaughn  2 , Lenise A Cummings-Vaughn  3 , Katherine J Holzer  2 , Erik J Nelson  4 , Millan AbiNader  5 , Sehun Oh  6
Affiliations

Trends and correlates of marijuana use among late middle-aged and older adults in the United States, 2002-2014

Christopher P Salas-Wright et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. .

Abstract

Background: Recent trend studies suggest that marijuana use is on the rise among the general population of adults ages 18 and older in the United States. However, little is known about the trends in marijuana use and marijuana-specific risk/protective factors among American adults during the latter part of adulthood.

Method: Findings are based on repeated, cross-sectional data collected from late middle-aged (ages 50-64) and older adults (ages 65 and older) surveyed as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2002 and 2014.

Results: The prevalence of past-year marijuana use among late middle-aged adults increased significantly from a low of 2.95% in 2003 to a high of 9.08% in 2014. Similarly, the prevalence of marijuana use increased significantly among older adults from a low of 0.15% in 2003 to a high of 2.04% in 2014. Notably, the upward trends in marijuana use remained significant even when accounting for sociodemographic, substance use, behavioral, and health-related factors. We also found that decreases in marijuana-specific protective factors were associated with the observed trend changes in marijuana use among late middle-aged and older adults, and observed a weakening of the association between late-middle aged marijuana use and risk propensity, other illicit drug use, and criminal justice system involvement over the course of the study.

Conclusions: Findings from the present study provide robust evidence indicating that marijuana use among older Americans has increased markedly in recent years, with the most evident changes observed between 2008 and 2014.

Keywords: Adulthood; Marijuana; Older adults; Risk and protective factors; Trends.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflict declared

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence and 95% Confidence Intervals for Past Year Marijuana Use and Disapproval among Adults Ages 50 to 64 in the United States between 2002 and 2014 based on Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence and 95% Confidence Intervals for Past Year Marijuana Use and Disapproval among Adults Ages 65 and Older in the United States between 2002 and 2014 based on Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health
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