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The age of drug usage, mind altering substances and experimentation may have been at its highest in the 60s and 70s. Today, the product of that era leaves treatment centers and hospitals full of baby boomer addicts. To prove this trend, the government conducted a study to determine the numbers and ages of those seeking rehab or treatment. They discovered that people over the age of fifty, doubled between 1992 and 2008. While a handful of these people over the age of fifty entering treatment were new to drug use, a remarking 75 percent stated that they began using drugs young in life, typically before they were even 25 years old. The numbers were eye opening for many as most believe drug abuse is for the young, certainly not the aging. These facts have also been a concern due to the health care costs needed to tend to these problems. So why is this age group seeking treatment now? Studies and doctors believe that part of it is due to children of these individuals, who are looking for ways to get their parents’ care. This combined with a growing problem of prescription drug use (such as anti-anxiety medications and sleeping pills) has opened the eyes of officials. According to other studies, the number of baby boomers coming into doctors’ offices are also suffering from dementia due to regular use of marijuana. Because one’s memory already begins to fade or become impaired with age, the addition of drugs, whether it be alcohol, marijuana or other types of drugs, add to this memory loss. Additionally, drugs aren’t processed through the body as quickly, as we become older. This results in side effects due to combining drugs with prescribed medications such as those given for high blood pressure or cholesterol problems. So what types of numbers have studies shown in regards to drug use and the baby boomer era? Reports show that those being treated for marijuana once was at 0.6 percent, but is now up to 2.9 percent. Cocaine abuse numbers are even higher going from 2.9 percent to 11.4 percent. Heroin was once a 7.2 percent and is currently at approximately 16 percent. While numbers on alcohol abuse in relation to baby boomers has actually decreased, it is still the most commonly treated substance abused. Addiction counselors add that they believe the numbers are high among baby boomers and drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers due to an age group not prepared to accept aging, physical pain or other problems that come with age. The types of patients checking themselves in to recovery centers are also not patients one would typically identify as an addict. Many are well educated and/or high end professionals. These are the people who have more disposable income and yet an attitude of yesteryear regarding ambivalence toward mind altering drugs. The high number of aging drug users are also seen in the emergency rooms of hospitals. Studies have shown a rise in emergency room visits just for narcotic pain relievers. Visits for oxycodone increased 152 percent, hydrocodone 123 percent and methadone 73 percent. Rehabilitation centers are trying to educate these baby boomers on the fact that life is painful, and coping with this pain rather than medicating it away will lead to a better physical and emotional health. Robert Shryoc is the Director of Development at the Stonegate Center, a Texas treatment center. The Texas drug rehab community serves people entangled in the physical, mental, social and spiritual bonds of chemical dependency. For more information about the residential treatment facility please visit www.stonegatecenter.com.
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