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A new study sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows a dramatic increase in the number of older adults (age 50 and older) being treated for substance abuse. The study, called Changing Substance Abuse Patterns among Older Admissions: 1992 and 2008, tracked the proportion of admissions to substance abuse treatment facilities nationwide through the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) and found that those involving older adults nearly doubled in the last sixteen years. As the Baby Boomer generation reaches old age, many are bringing with them complex addiction disorders. Surprisingly, many of the illicit substance abuse disorders among this age group were developed within the last five years.
As the baby boomer generation moves into older age, substance abuse among adults 50 and older has been on the rise, according to a new study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Based on data gathered in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) from 2006 to 2008, an estimated 4.3 million American adults ages 50 and older (or 4.7 percent of this population) have abused an illicit substance in the past year. The most widely abused substance in this age group was marijuana/hashish at 44.9 percent of older adults who use illicit substances, followed by nonmedical use of prescription drugs at 33.4 percent. SAMHSA predicts that this rise in substance abuse among older adults will require the doubling of substance abuse treatment services for older adults by the year 2020 to accommodate this generation.
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