Senior boomers’ drugs
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
A study forecasts illicit drug use among seniors will become more common as boomers become seniors.
Researchers including Dr. Wilson Compton of the National Institutes of Health projected drug use for people who would be 50 or older in 2020. Compton forecasts a tripling in marijuana use and more than a doubling in prescription drug misuse. And he says it’s not just because the numbers of older people are increasing:
“Although some of it will be due to the population changes, more of it is due to the shifting percentage of the population that uses drugs.”
Compton expects drug use could lead to worse memory function, poorer coordination and more accidents, and more relationship problems.
The study was in the journal Annals of Epidemiology.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.