Illicit Drug Use To Increase Among Older Adults

Study Finds Adults 50 And Older Using More Drugs

A government study suggest older adults will be increasing use of illicit drugs in coming years. High rates of lifetime drug use among the baby boom generation (persons born between 1946 and 1964), combined with the large size of that cohort, suggest that the number of older adults using drugs will increase in the next two decades.

It has been predicted that by the year 2020, the number of persons needing treatment for a substance use disorder will double among persons ages 50 or older as the baby boom generation moves into older adulthood. An estimated 4.3 million adults ages 50 or older, or 4.7% of adults in that age range, had used an illicit drug in the past year, based on data from 2006 to 2008.

Marijuana use was more common than nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs for adults ages 50 to 54 and those ages 55 to 59, but among those ages 65 or older, nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs was more common than marijuana use.


http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k9/168/168OlderAdults.htm