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Ear to the Ground

Stoner Boom

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Posted on Sep 7, 2006
Just say What?
From Time

In this classic cover of Time magazine, cartoonist Gary Trudeau depicts the sometimes delicate dance parents have to make around their children regarding the topic of their drug use. New government figures say that drug use among Americans 50 to 59 years old is on the rise, whereas usage among teens has declined.

Drug use among baby boomers is up, while use among teens is down, according to new government figures.

  • That actually makes sense. If teens started paying as much attention to the doings of Bush & Co. as their forebears, we’d see those numbers rising in unison.

  • AP:

    Some moms and dads might want to take a lesson from their kids: Just say no.

    The government reported Thursday that 4.4 percent of baby boomers ages 50 to 59 indicated that they had used illicit drugs in the past month. It marks the third consecutive yearly increase recorded for that age group by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

    Meanwhile, illicit drug use among young teens went down for the third consecutive year — from 11.6 percent in 2002 to 9.9 percent in 2005.

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    Comments

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    By C Quil, September 8, 2006 at 8:26 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Maybe the parents are becoming more honest about their drug use and the kids less so.

    Report this

    By rabblerowzer, September 8, 2006 at 2:46 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    After five years of the most rapacious corruption in our nationÂ’s history, middleclass Americans deserve a bit of reefer madness. With luck we might be able to undo most of the evil perpetrated by Republicans. But until then anyone with less money than a multi-millionaire is going to suffer. We will be earning less money and paying higher taxes for a long time, assuming of course the country doesnÂ’t go bankrupt before we can rebuild our economic base.

    The owners of the Military Industrial Complex must accept the fact that they wonÂ’t be able to double their profits every year, but even so they wonÂ’t have to worry about having enough money to pay rent and buy groceries. Plutocrats already have enough money to insure their heirs live like gods until the twelfth of never.

    What’s next, debtor’s prison?

    No worries though, I’m gettin’ by stayin’ high.

    Report this

    By faith, September 7, 2006 at 9:54 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Get real !  Few of us Baby Boomers ever did, or use drugs.  I never did.  Most of us middle class, lower class kids had neither time, nor money, nor inclination to smoke a joint or whatever.  We were too busy with jobs and teaching Sunday school.  And, you are saying .04% are currently ingesting narcotics some way or other?  .04% ?  Get real.  That is not a Boomer crisis.  We are still too busy working, volunteering, and teaching Sunday school.  And, oh yes, participating in peace vigils against this horrific White House administration.  You know, that little group of rich kids who are not familiar with hard work, volunteerism , and teaching Sunday school.  Include truth and justice in that as well, please.

    Report this

    By Scott, September 7, 2006 at 2:36 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    The delicate dance depicted in Gary Trudeau’s cartoon only increases the growing lack of deference in society. They may or may not be saying no to pot as a result of the authorities getting some message out but kids still learn and follow by example. One such example is that its okay to pay attention to laws that make sense and to ignore the ones that don’t.

    If the authorities actually thought they could convince kids to simply say no by bombarding them with anti-drug messages perhaps they can get kids to defer to authority by bombarding them with simple patriotic pro-government messages.

    Hey, wait a minute…

    Report this

    By tbonegonzo, September 7, 2006 at 1:13 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Maybe the real problem is that less than 90%  of teenagers are now smoking pot.  I guess they don’t count taking their parents xanax and vicodin as “doing drugs.”

    If they became a little more conscientious, they might have a reason to increase their illicit drug intake, and, in effect, contribute more to our floundering society.

    Report this

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