In spite of getting older, a significant percentage of the Baby Boomer generation continue to use illicit drugs and binge drink, putting themselves at medical risks which could put further strains on the nation's health care system. Reviews of government surveys found an alarming trend of substance abuse among older adults.Binge drinking and drug abuse is typically a problem among youth, but statistics show increasing problems among those over age 50.
One study by Duke University Medical Center of 11,000 adults age 50 and up found that 23% of men between the ages of 50 and 64 admitted to binge drinking within the last month. Approximately 9% of women the same age admitted binge drinking.
Boomers Still Smoking Pot
The second study, by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, found that 9.4% of 16,656 surveyed adults between the ages of 50 and 59 admitted illicit drug use in the past month.
Of that group 5.7% used marijuana and 4% admitted to the nonmedical use of prescription drugs.
As Baby Boomers - American born between 1946 and 1964 - grow older they are causing the rate of illicit drug use to go up within the 50 to 59-year-old segment of the population. In 2002, only 5.1% of that age group admitted illegal drug use, but that number almost doubled by 2007.
"These findings show that many in the Woodstock generation continue to use illicit drugs as they age," said SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick in a new release. "This continued use poses medical risks to these individuals and is likely to put further strains on the nation's health care system -- highlighting the value of preventing drug use from ever starting."
Unrecognized Problem
Dr. Dan G. Blazer, lead author of the Duke study, recommends that doctors begin asking their older patients about their binge drinking.
"We feel that our findings are important to the public health of middle-aged and elderly persons as they point to a potentially unrecognized problem that often 'flies beneath' the typical screen for alcohol problems in psychiatry practices," Dr. Blazer said in a news release.
The binge drinking study was published online in the American Journal of Psychiatry, August 17, 2009. The SAMHSA study, "An Examination of Trends in Illicit Drug Use among Adults Aged 50 to 59 in the United States," is available online in PDF format.
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