The Elderly doing Drugs?

When society thinks of the word, substance abuse, the groups of people that are most often connected to it are teenagers and young adults. The reason why many people would believe this, are because in the media and in reality, the groups of people that are always being seen or heard abusing drugs are teens and young adults. On the flipside, one group of people that most people would assume to never have issues with drug abuse would be the elderly, but in recent studies that has not been the case.

In a recent study, “the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that among adults aged 50 to 59, the rate of current illicit drug use increased to 6.3 percent in 2011 from 2.7 percent in 2002”(FRIEDMAN, 2013). The most commonly abused drug was alcohol, but what would shock people would be the fact that there are more aggressive drugs being used by them, such as cocaine and opiates. The reason why the elderly drug abuse problem has flown under the radar, is because physicians do not make a conservative effort find out whether or not their patients are suffering from substance abuse.

The major problem with this rising issue is that not only are the drugs such as alcohol affecting these people, but also their age does nothing but worsens the situation. In 2011, “the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 8.3 percent of adults 65 and older reported binge drinking, defined as having four or five drinks on one occasion.(FRIEDMAN, 2013)” Most people would assume that binge drinking would be having ten or more drinks, but as a result of age, the elderly only need to consume half as much as a young person to be considered a binge drinker.

The reason why the elderly are turning to drug use such as alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs that give them a rush, are mostly because of their mental or physical state, the loss of a loved one, or where there at socially. Although in the past young adults and teens were the ones being looked at as the number one contenders for drug abuse, the momentum is slowly shifting towards the elderly due to recently discover survey.

 ABSTRACT

Reference:

FRIEDMAN, R. A. (2013, April 29). A Rising Tide of Substance Abuse. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/a-rising-tide-of-mental-distress/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0