Straight Dope: SoFla Senior Part of Toking Trend

Miami woman, 88, gets high every day

Everybody knows South Florida has the coolest old people, and when they're not owning in Wii bowling, it turns out they're getting high.

Take for instance Florence Siegel, 88. Like any good stoner, Flo likes to kick back with a little booze (red wine), some trippy tunes (she prefers Bach), and a good toke session with her hubby.

Siegel has earned her place as top senior stoner in an AP article released today about the increased marijuana smokage among the geriatric set.

Surveys by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration revealed that weed use by people 50 and older jumped from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008.

And in people between 55 and 59 years old, that figure tripled from 1.6 percent to 5.1 percent.

The survey cites the advancing age of baby boomers and the beat generation, as well as all those dirty hippies from the '60s.

Some, like Siegel, who suffers from arthritis in her back and legs, use the drug to help deal with the pain.

But some doctors want to harsh Siegel's mellow, and say that wasted old folks are more susceptibe to fatal falls if they get dizzy and are more at risk for heart disease, despite any health benefits.

"There are other better ways to achieve the same effects," Dr. William Dale, of the University of Chicago, said.

Siegel, however, recommends taking a puff to all her fellow golden girls.

"They're missing a lot of fun and a lot of relief," she said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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