A spate of articles hitting the net today such as one on MSNBC found here discuss the rise in marijuana use among seniors as Father Time beckons to boomers with his craggy little finger, sneering and whispering, "That's right ... come to papa."

Now, aging boomers do not mean that there's going to be a run on blue hairs racing to Denny's at 9:00 PM for the Grand Slam Breakfast in a case of the munchies that usually hits at 3:00 AM for college aged kids getting high.  This dramatic increase still puts the percentages in the outlying area.  The number of people aged 50 and older reporting marijuana use in the prior year went up from 1.9% to 2.9% percent from 2002 to 2008, according to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  Peeling that back a little further, however, the rise was most dramatic among 55- to 59-year-olds, with pot use tripling from 1.6% in 2002 to 5.1% in 2008.

So in other words, boomer parents hold down the curve at the upper end of the "50 and older" benchmark.  How pathetic is this for boomers?  We've managed to hit the age demarcation point where the marketers no longer distinguish between us and, well, our parents.

No wonder we want to get high, because we are going to need all the help we can get to find this a laughing matter. 

But recreation does not seem to be the only reason for the increased pot use among geezers.  Many also turn to the drug to relieve the aches and pains of old age.  Sparking up a fatty allegedly relieves discomfort associated with arthritis as well as the more documented relief the drug provides for ailments such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and nausea associated with various cancer treatments.

The biggest benefit many see to this happens to be a shifting sentiment with respect to the drug.  Boomer parents were of the 'Reefer Madness' mentality that had marijuana use leading to you shooting up heroin with Billie Holiday and Lenny Bruce devotees in a back alley somewhere while listening to some Rat Pack song waft through the air from a juke box inside the dive bar from whence they had staggered to get their fix. 

Boomers realize they'll just eat a few more nachos and laugh a little louder than normal at 30 Rock before turning in to fall asleep before the 11 O'Clock news and hope to make it through the night without having to get up to go to the bathroom now that the prostate is giving them fits.  A couple bong hits is way, way more fun than getting a prescription for Flomax, and it doesn't require hearing the snap of a rubber glove as the Doctor asks for you to bend over and cough, either. 

So smoking or not, decriminalization advocates view boomers as allies on the issue.  And, unlike the young stoners who want it legalized, the old stoners will get out to vote if they are at all like their WWII generation parents.  (Then again, they might be too high to remember to vote, so perhaps the theory won't fly.)

But let's be honest, not all the reasons boomers have returned to weed stem from medical requirements.  In the aforementioned MSNBC article, 66-year-old Keith Stroup, the founder and lawyer of NORML, a marijuana advocacy group, says he sits down to the evening news, pours himself a glass of wine and rolls a joint. He's used the drug since he first went to university, but many older adults are revisiting marijuana after years away.

"The kids are grown, they're out of school, you've got time on your hands and frankly it's a time when you can really enjoy marijuana," Stroup said. "Food tastes better, music sounds better, sex is more enjoyable."

Marijuana can, indeed, be quite an aphrodisiac, but, in this age demographic could it not be a little like trying to shoot pool with a piece of cooked spaghetti?  Does not marijuana use dehydrate one?  Might this not exacerbate dryness issues? 

Similarly, is this really a visual the younger generation needs?  They've left the home, do they really want to think of mom and dad listening to the Dead, popping Viagra, lubing up the equipment and getting their groove on after a couple bags of microwave popcorn, a Domino's Pizza, a half a big bag of Skittles and a couple of YooHoos?  It is said certain things are best left to the imagination.  Is it not fair to say that certain things are, well, best left? 

So the drug helps with ailments.  It can also provide defib paddles to one's sexual predilections.  But what are the downsides?

 According to Dr. William Dale, chief of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center older users could be at risk of falling if they became dizzy and smoking dope reportedly increase heart disease and can cause "cognitive impairment."

Well, hell, isn't cognitive impairment the whole point?  But it does give new meaning to the notion of "Help, I've fallen, and I can't get up."  Might be hard to take it seriously on the business end of that 911 call if the little old lady who is crying for help is doing so through giggled hysterics.  Kind of like the recent ad that had Betty White flopping around in the mud to promote Snickers bars. 

There you have it.  As boomers age, more old people seem to be smoking dope.  Given old people vote in higher percentages than younger people, the hope amongst the decriminalization crowd is that this augers well for "the cause."  

That's one message.  For me it should send shivers down the spine of public safety people through Arizona and Florida.  There's going to be a rise in stoned out seniors cruising down the interstate at 35 MPH listening to the Grateful Dead heading off to early bird special buffets.  Likewise, those buffets are likely going to take a beating given the munchies will be hitting.  They better start doubling up on the Tapioca servings.

And god only knows what will be going on in the hot tubs later.