Baby Boomers and Substance Abuse

The baby boom generation has been the subject of many studies over the years. This generation, usually categorized as individuals born between 1946 and 1955, is known for its large size, its love of rock and roll music, and its strong political stances. A new study released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) tells of another, more alarming characteristic. The study reports that 9.4 % of people in the 50-59 age group today have done drugs in the past year. This is an increase of 4% in the last 12 months, the highest increase of any age group.

The report goes on to say that 90% of these baby boomers that use drugs today began using them before they were 30. What this study shows is that people in this age group, that once started recreationally using marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs, are still at it today. While many generations tend to grow out of things like drug and alcohol abuse, this group doesn’t seem like it is going to.

Recreational Drug Use

There are a few reasons that we can speculate as to why some baby boomers still use drugs today in their 50’s and 60’s. First of all, this group was the first one to extensively use drugs for recreation. It was the culture of the 60’s; the pot-smoking, cocaine-trying teens and 20 somethings that felt drugs enhanced their way of living. It was and still is simply the way of life for many.

Prescription Painkillers

Another thing that caused this generation to keep using drugs is that during their life, prescription painkillers became widely available. Drugs had become a quick fix for many things including stress and anxiety, and now pain was solved by powerful painkillers. This generation didn’t have to be convinced to take medicine for pain, leading to the problem of painkiller addiction that so many are suffering with today.

Resistant to Treatment

Thirdly, when baby boomers were younger, it was not culturally acceptable for people to admit to an addiction problem and seek help for it. Because of this, baby boomers kept on doing the drugs or abusing alcohol through the years, never getting help.

The future of baby boomers might cause some concern in our country today. Baby boomers may require more medical care as they age because of the toll the drugs have taken on their bodies. Add this to social security and health care concerns because of the large size of this population and it causes some to worry that our system won’t be able to support all the baby boomers as they get older.  

Time will tell how serious the problem of baby boomers aging will be. With a large focus in our country of help and treatment for substance abuse, many people in their 50’s and 60’s are now beginning to get treatment. We need to encourage treatment for everyone with an addiction. It’s never too late to ask for help.

Sources

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=8341707&page=1

http://ezinearticles.com/?Baby-Boomers-Addiction-and-Alcoholism-May-Take-Down-Medicare-and-Social-Security-Programs&id=1087785

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/planning-to-retire/2009/08/20/baby-boomers-still-using-illegal-drugs.html