Who smokes up? Boomers, especially women Boomers: Researchers at UC San Diego and NYU discovered that marijuana use by Americans aged 65 and older increased by nearly 46% from 2021 to 2023, according to an NYU press release. As more states legalize marijuana for recreational use, as well as for medicinal therapies, accessibility to the drug is more widespread, particularly among aging adults. The research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that 7% of 15,000 adults in this age range reported using cannabis in the last month, according to 2023 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This was an increase from 4.8% in 2021 and 5.2% in 2022.  While marijuana use surged in both men and women, it was more prevalent among women. The research found that increased use was associated with health conditions like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Those with a college or post-grad degree, an annual income of $75,000 or more, married status, and residence in a state with legalized medical cannabis were also more likely to partake. Source: Fox News 6/5/25

Career trajectories need to be transparent: Employers may be overlooking middle-age and mid-career employees in their development efforts, according to a Perceptyx report released May 7. Career growth and development are especially important to retention and engagement this year, Perceptyx said, noting that four of the top five drivers of intention to stay measured in its latest benchmark “relate directly to career growth.” But perception of those career opportunities “declines steadily” from Generation Z to baby boomers, with training satisfaction reaching its height with Gen Z workers, indicating a lack of investment in development for workers beyond their early careers, Perceptyx said.  Additionally, mid-level employees want to know not only that these opportunities exist but how exactly they can access them. Employers looking to improve their leadership training programs may want to ensure those programs focus on what is relevant for their companies and their “unique circumstances,” according to a January report from ASE’s partner McLean & Company. Overly broad training can make it difficult for leaders to apply their new knowledge, the report said.  Source: HR Dive 5/13/25

Don’t forget pet benefits! 48% of Gen Z employees see their pets as their children, according to a survey from Talker Research and veterinary services provider Vetster, and 13% of millennials see them as siblings. Among older generations, 37% of Gen X and 39% of baby boomers see their pets as support systems. However, 98% of all ages agree that pets make their lives better, and they want their organization's help in caring for them. Pet care can be expensive, but owners are more than willing to pay the price by whatever means necessary. According to Vetster, Gen X would happily drop an average of nearly $6,000 to save their pet's life and Gen Z is close behind with an average of $5,957.90. Older generations are most likely to have the money on hand, but 43% of Gen Z would ask for the money from family and friends. Another 24% of Gen Zers would drain all of their bank accounts and 18% would even sell an organ to cover the cost. Similarly, 36% of millennials would willingly take out a loan and go into debt.  Therefore, it would be an attraction and retention tool to offer pet benefits.  Source: EBN 5/21/25

Proposed Anti-Semitism bill introduced in Michigan: On June 4, Rep. Noah Arbit introduced an amendment in the Michigan legislature to codify bans on antisemitism in employment, housing, and education.  The Michigan Antisemitism Protection Act, also known as HB 4548, would be incorporated into the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.  The existing legislation bans employment discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, and national origin, among other protected classes; this newly introduced amendment would add “ethnicity” to this group of identities. Specifically, HB 4548 outlines how protecting ethnicity includes but is not limited to antisemitism, which it defines as “hatred of Jews” and “severe disparagement of Jews or Jewish culture.”  Moreover, this state law amendment bans “mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as a collective,” including myths about “world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government, or other societal institutions.”  Source: HR Dive 6/9/25

Don’t click unsubscribe: With all the junk email, nearly every email ends with the same invitation: click here to unsubscribe.  Before you do, however, consider this: While we’ve long been told that “unsubscribe” is a simple and safe way to get off email lists we never signed up for or no longer care about, that isn’t always the case. In fact, cybersecurity experts warn that in many instances, clicking that link might do more harm than good. DNSFilter has found that one in every 644 clicks on unsubscribe links that say “click here to unsubscribe” leads users to potentially malicious websites.  The lowest risk is that bad actors who have acquired your email address are testing to see if it is a live one, experts say. Clicking on that unsubscribe link “tells attackers you’re a real person who interacts with spam,” says Michael Bargury, chief technology officer and co-founder of artificial-intelligence-agent security company Zenity. It may not cause immediate harm, but it “can make you a bigger target in the future.” Once bad actors know an email address belongs to a real person who’s paying attention, they can start to build a file on that user in the hopes of eventually extorting money through social engineering or some other scam, says Charles Henderson, executive vice president of cybersecurity services at security firm Coalfire.  Another risk associated with unsubscribe links is that they will send you to a fake but authentic-looking webpage, where criminals try to trick you into providing your login credentials or attempt to install malware on your device.  Source: Wall Street Journal 6/9/25