ShareThisBy LISA HOFFMAN
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
They are perhaps best known for their youthful indulgence in an exotic menu of illicit substances such as Acapulco Gold, windowpane acid, mescaline and Quaaludes.
Now, experts warn, the 78 million-strong baby-boomer generation is bringing its propensity to use pills and pot to its senior years. In what researchers call the tip of an ominous trend, boomers are responsible for a spike in drug and alcohol abuse that is expected to mushroom in coming years.
"I think it's a silent, unappreciated problem that has the potential to tarnish the baby boomers' golden years," said Dr. Bruce Henricks, medical director of the Mutual of Omaha insurance company.
The few studies that have been done are upending what had been a long-standing assumption _ that substance abuse declines as people age. The boomers _ for whom Bob Dylan's "everybody must get stoned" refrain served as a mantra for many _ are proving the "maturing-out" theory wrong.
One of the few comprehensive studies of the problem found that 3 million Americans older than 50 in 2004 had used illicit drugs such as marijuana, cocaine or heroin, or had misused anti-anxiety, anti-depression or other prescription drugs. Research by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that number could more than double by 2020.
Boomers are generally defined as those born between 1946 and 1964.
Already, the drug-abuse toll is evident. Hospital emergency rooms reported treating more than 400,000 boomer-aged patients for drug overdoses in 2004, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many do not make it, as was reflected in a recent Scripps analysis that determined boomers made up about half of all people nationwide who died of drug-related causes in 2003 _ most from overdoses.
A similar state health services department survey in California, where the counterculture first blossomed 40 years ago, found a nearly 30 percent increase in boomer drug deaths between 2000 and 2004. In Arizona, officials counted 250 boomers dead of drug-related causes in 2005, compared to 39 in 1995.
Henricks and other experts say a combination of physical and emotional factors portends an acceleration of those trends as boomers age.
While not all boomers have used illicit substances _ and millions merely experimented or engaged in occasional "recreational" use _ the "if it feels good, do it" philosophy that prevailed in their formative years remains for many.
This generation has more heavy drinkers than earlier ones, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The availability of such super pain relievers as Oxycontin is also snaring boomers _ including conservative radio-talk-show pioneer Rush Limbaugh, 56 _ who started out using it to ease chronic pain but in time become dependent on the pills.
And, for most boomers, turning to a pill to cope with dieting, insomnia, depression, menopause and a child's attention deficit disorder is an everyday act.
It is that predisposition that leads researchers to predict a new spike in illicit substance use, misuse of prescriptions and the mixing of alcohol with drugs as the inevitable aches and pains of aging set in. Loneliness, grief at the loss of loved ones, health woes, stress and lower standards of living all can contribute to "self-medication," they say.
And physiological changes _ such as a slower metabolism _ can magnify or distort the effect of both legal and illegal substances, sometimes in a deadly way.
Despite the signs that society is heading toward a new substance-abuse problem, little is being done so far to prepare for it, experts say.
"Today's health-care system fails to deal with this reality," said Samuel Korper, of the federal substance abuse and mental health agency, in a report on the future impact of elderly drug and alcohol use.
That is the conclusion as well of Peter Provet, president of Odyssey House in New York City, one of the first substance-abuse rehabilitation facilities to open after the 1967 Summer of Love.
Now, his treatment program is faced with a growing waiting list of older addicts, a situation he expects to occur across the country because of a lack of federal funds and facilities equipped to help older abusers recover. Compounding the situation, he said, is the virtual absence of public awareness of the problem.
"This is an untold story that needs to be told," Provet said.
