When my father read that Michigan, his home state, had legalized the growing of medical marijuana, he started planning a whole new future. “I think growing would be a good pastime for me,” he said. “That could be my retirement.” My father just turned 70-years-old, and though his past life as a hippie may have influenced his new career choice, many in the nation’s aging population who have no history with drugs may turn to the lucrative drug trade. To some, it seems like one of the few ways to keep out of the endemic poverty that continues to plague the elderly and could easily be prevented.
It’s no surprise the recession has hit those in and on the edge of poverty hard, and recent statistics have proven it. Wisconsin’s poverty rate worsened in 2008 to 11.2 percent, and it reached an uncomfortably high 18.8 percent in Milwaukee County. Further, according to Wisconsin Public Radio, one in 10 elderly people in Wisconsin live in poverty, making them one of the most affected groups.
Why is our aging population so poor? The elderly have sky-high health-related costs, among them prescription medications, doctors visits, surgeries and medical procedures, special diets and home health aides. Of course there are Medicare, Medicaid and programs like Badger Care that aim to alleviate some of the costs, but they are often not enough, and fail to take into account, as WPR says, “basic needs, such as housing [and] food.”
Additionally, elderly employees may have started working for a company just after high school, and have worked at the same place for 30, 40 or even 50 years. Now they find themselves laid off, with no real job skills in an increasingly service-based economy, where businesses are looking for more qualified candidates (which usually means having a college degree or two.) Because of a lack of free or low-cost programs, seniors have no way of acquiring job training for a more complicated workforce that has changed before their eyes.
And if an elderly person is caring for someone else, say, a spouse with failing health, or children or grandchildren on already paltry savings, the likelihood they will be able to support themselves and their dependents decreases exponentially. Some are turning to the drug world to make up for it. As reported by Channel 3000, 80-year-old Minnesotan Donald John Everding was recently arrested after police found a greenhouse in his home that could produce “multiple pounds” of marijuana, and he is expected to receive felony drug charges. What is more disheartening about the Channel 3000 story is the sentence; “Everding wasn’t arrested during the raid because he is caring for his elderly wife.”
The drug trade actually makes a lot of sense for the desperate elderly. Growing pot doesn’t require a college degree, doesn’t take a lot of skill (although my father would disagree), and it pays well. It is also appealing because growers don’t report their drug dealings on their income taxes, so they theoretically get to keep most of what they make. And even if an elderly person doesn’t feel like setting up a greenhouse, prescription pills are an accessible source of income because college kids may be willing to pay top dollar for a senior’s unused OxyContins. Therefore, while Medicare may not cover all prescription, medical or funeral costs, to many, selling a little on the side would certainly help.
For many in this country, the financial situation is crippling. For seniors faced with no job prospects however, the situation becomes more and more dire as the recession wears on. In such cases, their only feasible option may be to grow and sell drugs, which, in addition to being illegal, is thoroughly shameful.
It is a shame our seniors, who we should value most for their experience and knowledge, are the often forgotten poor, and it is a shame some can only survive through illegal activity. The biggest shame is that we do not offer enough job training and education programs, subsidized housing and medical benefits for the elderly. It is irresponsible to let this continue, and we need to realize that the few programs we have for the elderly are just not cutting it.
By acknowledging that Wisconsin has many needy seniors and refusing to allow them to be the forgotten poor, we can provide them with the right tools. We can help them do themselves a favor and re-enter productively into the work force so that they can one day spend their retirement worry-free however they like… even if that means toiling on a pot farm in Michigan.
Taylor Nye ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in anthropology and intending to major in Spanish.
