UK - One foot in the rave: middle-age drug use rising

[edgarshade]

Independent

Jeremy Laurance Author Biography

Thursday 05 April 2012

With reader comments

Illicit drug use among over-50s has risen sharply as the greying hippie generation ages

They were the flower children of the Sixties who turned on, tuned in and dropped out. Four decades on, older but not necessarily wiser, they are still getting stoned on a regular basis.

Illicit drug use among the over-50s has risen tenfold since the mid-Nineties as the hippie generation has become the bus pass generation. Researchers say the growth of drug use among the middle aged and elderly has been long suspected but never investigated and its effects on the ageing brain are unknown.

Almost one in 10 Londoners in their sixth decade is regularly puffing on a joint, snorting a line of cocaine or dropping a tab of acid, according to the findings based on two household surveys of almost 4,000 people. The commonest drug used was cannabis but there were clear differences between those over and under the age of 65, and between London and the rest of the country.

In inner London 9 per cent of those aged 50 to 64 reported using cannabis in the past 12 months compared with 1.8 per cent elsewhere. Among the over-65s, usage rates were 1.1 per cent in London and 0.4 per cent elsewhere in England.

More...
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...e-rave-middleage-drug-use-rising-7619406.html


And the Daily Mail...
Children of the Sixties refusing to quit drugs.: Use by the over-50s has increased tenfold in 20 years

By Sophie Borland

PUBLISHED: 00:48, 5 April 2012 | UPDATED: 01:52, 5 April 2012

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...0s-increased-tenfold-years.html#ixzz1r8tUbIek

 

[LogicSoDeveloped]

I've never tried cocaine and never intend on it but as far as smoking pot or taking LSD, I think I'll still be doing those two when I'm that age. Plus, cocaine isn't good for the heart whereas LSD and marijuana are physically safe. I don't get why it is bad for older people to do these things. I don't think drug use is necessarily an unwise decision later in life. Everything in moderation...

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

I reckon you'll see the same thing as the first generation of ravers passes into seniorhood. I can definitely imagine nursing home rooms with turntables and bass tubes in them. Certainly not everyone who did recreational drugs as young and middle-aged adults is bound to quit them as they get older. And even among aging ravers who seldom or never use drugs anymore, there will be some who still go to raves.

 

[edgarshade]

Definitely by the mid 90s I knew that most instead of just a few people at work below 30 where into raves etc. I'd quit and become tea-total by then but it was fun to watch the next generation overtake me

 

[weekend addiction]

What the hell is with this god damn rave craze? Fuck dub step, fuck techno. The whole scene is shit if you ask me.

 

[LogicSoDeveloped]

It is important, imo, to separate the brostep scene from actual ravers. I'm not a raver. I've been into the culture and everything, I just haven't religiously attended every event or gone crazy with it. I just think it is a clique just like jocks or any other high school clique, at least in my area.

When I think of the rave culture, I think of people from all different backgrounds (dressed normally) meeting up in various locations to dance the night away.I don't think anything makes the rave culture besides the like minded people treating each other with kindness and understanding in a world full of judgmental people. I don't think the clothes and colors are necessarily stupid-I just don't think it is the only reason as to why people should come together.

When I was not treated as one of the group at a rave just because I haven't fucked a bunch of rave girls and taken ecstasy with the people in question for several years, it made me realize that they are just like any other clique back home and that they will eventually move on to some other fad. Beyond that, when I attended, I didn't dress up in crazy colors or wear kandi, I went for the communal think until I realized its all bullshit.

Thats why I enjoy going to a different crews parties in another state. They have a lot more fun, have more traditional rave music, and I actually get along with the guys that throw them. (I don't care for dubstep or the bro's that listen to it-I don't mind it, I just mind the douchey, drunk people that come to raves that are even worse than the people in it as a clique) They are also 18+ which allows them to be more laid back as well as knowing all of the chicks there are legal.

There are totally cool dubstep fans, there are also those who just don't get it. Don't get me wrong, there are also high and mighty ravers who think that they are above dubstep and constantly make fun of it and anyone who enjoys it just because its popular. I just think its repetitive, thats all.


I've totally moved on to the festival circuit. I have a better time at them anyways.

 

[Na'vi]

What the hell is with this god damn rave craze? Fuck dub step, fuck techno. The whole scene is shit if you ask me.

This "craze" has been going since the late 80's/early 90's. If you don't like electronic music then that's entirely fair, doesn't mean the whole scene is shit though. Open your mind.

 

[Darksidesam]

why not get stoned everyday life is shit anyway

 

[Xamkou]

why not get stoned everyday life is shit anyway

at least in the uk.

 

[shimazu]

Even funnier is if people are still going to listen to rap music in their senior years.

Imagine a grandpa cruisin down the street listening to Biggie while smoking a blunt.

Because its going to be reality in 30-50 years

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

Let's not forget that there will be many aging ravers who are in far too poor health to enjoy either recreational drugs of any sort, or the sleep deprivation and sensory intensity of a typical rave. I daresay they'll outnumber ones who are still popping pills and smoking blunts.

I've always been willing to refrain from judging fellow ravers who are content to completely wreck themselves. It's their body to do with what they please. But boy do I cringe when I imagine what old age has in store for them.

 

[Use2Be]

In my opinoin if you are going to party hard the best times to do that are when you are young and when you are older because, generally speaking, those are the times of less responsibility with regard to education, career, kids, health, etc.

As for music, I know plenty of people who quit paying attention to new music after their favorite time of life (high school, college, clubbing days, etc). They listen to the same tired songs over and over and have no idea what is current. I don't get it myself, but I can totally see rap and electronic music in the nursing homes of the future.

 

[weekend addiction]

This "craze" has been going since the late 80's/early 90's. If you don't like electronic music then that's entirely fair, doesn't mean the whole scene is shit though. Open your mind.

Haha I'm not 12 I know raves are nothing new. I mainly don't like the irresponsibility and negative attention brought to the drug culture. I also don't like any members of the scene that I personally have met. Regardless though I'm sure there are plenty of cool

 

[Toscas]

Can old guys are allowed at raves? Like 47?? Drinking copious amounts of water and just dancing with urself while totally mesmerized by lights and music, sweating all night....just sounds kinda fun to me.