A US report finds 'street drugs' are now second to addiction for prescription drugs, writes Melissa Healy
IT HAS been four decades since the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, but ageing baby boomers haven't stopped looking for their high.The US government's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released earlier in September, finds that as boomers move into their 50s in large numbers, drug use among older adults in the US has hit its highest point ever.
In the US government's latest report - reflecting drug use in 2007 - one in 20 Americans aged 50-59 told researchers they had used illicit drugs in the past month. But as older users contend with the aches and pains of ageing, they are adding prescription drugs to their mix, according to the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
By contrast, the new, younger generation of drug users isn't waiting to reach middle age to add prescription drugs to its portfolio of abuse, the report says. Among teenagers and young adults aged 12-25, one-third of those who use illicit drugs say they recently have abused prescription drugs - including painkillers, tranquillisers and stimulants.These generational trends are driving a significant change in the landscape of American drug abuse. After years of declining use of street drugs - cocaine, hallucinogens and marijuana - prescription medications have begun moving front and centre as the US's drug of choice.
Dr Nora Volkow, director of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse, says the report underscores a "paradigm shift" in drug abuse and, hence, in its treatment.
Although addiction to prescription drugs is not new, the current generation of teenagers and young adults has grown up around widespread medical use of prescription drugs, Volkow says, and is inclined to view them as "safe" because they are prescribed by doctors.
Volkow adds that a shift toward prescription drug abuse also may make it harder for the new generation's drug users to grow out of their habit, as many baby boomers have done. Users of street drugs, Volkow says, frequently quit as they find that unpleasant side effects become more pronounced with age and prolonged use.
But users of prescription medications tend to build tolerance to the effects over time, prompting them to use more, not less, and more often, Volkow says.
Researchers with the US government substance abuse agency say they are uncertain if boomer drug users continue to do drugs into adulthood or, rather, return to a youthful habit as they age.
Studies suggest that for the current generation, as for past generations, efforts to thwart distribution of some drugs simply shifts thrill-seekers to ones that are easier to score - a dynamic that helps explain the move towards prescriptions.
The report follows a study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University showing that 19 per cent of 12-17 year olds believe prescription drugs are easier to get than cigarettes, alcohol and street drugs.
The new report also underscores the ease with which abusers of prescription drugs can get controlled substances. More than half of those who reported they had recently taken prescription drugs for non-medical uses said they got the drugs from a friend or relative free, and almost 20 per cent got them from a physician. The US government report, which also tallies Americans' mental-health status, makes clear that illicit drug use is frequently a form of self-medication.