Drug Abuse Among Seniors in America, an Ageless Predator
Drug abuse among the elderly is an unforeseen epidemic, due largely to the ageing of baby boomers. Back in the 60’s, 70’s and into the 80’s when doing drugs was a way of life, we now have aging drug users. This also stresses the fact that drug addiction and abuse is an equal opportunity destroyer and there are no age limits. Drugs do not care about color, age, wealth, or background. Once that ferocious predator gets into you, without outside treatment and help, it will stay with you until you die, or worse, you find yourself morally and financially bankrupt. Dying would be the easy out, it’s living with addictions are hard.
According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the increase in people over 50 entering treatment programs for heroin abuse alone rose from 7,000 to 27,000 between 1992 and 2002. People being treated for cocaine addiction increased from about 3,000 to 13,000. The percent of older adults in treatment who abuse opiates, which are found in many prescription painkillers, increased from 6.8% to 12% from 1995 to 2002, making it the second most frequently reported reason for seeking treatment. (According to Jennifer Warner of CBS News, and Brunilda Nazario MD of WebMD).
Usually when we think of the elderly, it consists of our own little family circle. Grandma and Grandpa, or the elderly Aunt and Uncle. There may be a chance that at least one of the seniors in any family has a problem with alcohol or drugs. Prescription pain medications seem to be the easiest to get addicted to, and many seniors don’t consider themselves addicted because their prescriptions are legal. Alcoholism may be more easily recognized because it is a legal drug and socially acceptable, and besides, there is a liquor store on just about every corner in most towns. Seniors who abuse drugs keep it very well hidden because of embarrassment and shame that is included with drug addiction. Many feel that they should know better than to get addicted because their age.
Now try to imagine Aunt Martha is abusing her prescription pain medication, which is classed as an opiate addiction. She is only 67 years old, but fell about six months ago and hurt her knee. Her doctor gave her some much needed pain medication that when taken properly, has little chance of becoming a problem.
Aunt Martha finds she really likes the pain meds and for the first time in a long time, all the aches and pains that have been with her as she grew older are gone. She is able to do some of the things she used to before her arthritis started acting up and that makes her feel great. Now she really could have given up the pain meds about three months ago, but she has been fibbing to her doctor and telling him she is still in terrible pain. Finally her doctor cuts her off and tells her to use regular over the counter medication, refusing to refill her prescription. Aunt Martha suddenly finds that her whole body hurts and she can’t think straight. She is in pain and finds she can no longer function without “her medication”. Addiction makes good people do terrible things they would never do if they were “sober”. Aunt Martha will do anything to get out of the pain she is in and she starts driving to a dangerous neighborhood looking for anything that would make her feel better. She learns a fast lesson about street drugs and which one does the trick and will make her feel like her pills did. She will probably find prescription pain pills on the street, and starts buying them illegally. She wakes up one day wondering what the hell happened and thinking she should be old enough to know better, and that’s why she keeps quiet. She feels she should be able to stop on her own, but she can’t, she will have to get help.
Some may also have the type of attitude of “Why make a 65 year old grandfather stop doing drugs, why should he quit?” The main reason is that people between the ages of 50 and 70 are at bigger risks of causing damage to themselves and others when they are high. Many seniors don’t realize that mixing their meds and drinking can have severe consequences to their health and motor skills. A lot of the medications prescribed to older people help lower blood pressure, thin their blood, or regulate their heart rate. Alcohol, which is a major depressant, may counter act the way the medication works and cause their system to react in the opposite way. In older bodies, the ability to fight foreign substances slows down and its ability to defend itself against these substances weakens. Adding alcohol and drugs to the picture may weaken their immune system even more, making their bodies more vulnerable to germs and viruses. Seniors are likely to have problems with their eyesight, making it hard to judge distances or read road signs when driving. If seniors are getting high, these problems are increased and the chance of them hurting themselves or others goes up. The chance of them breaking bones or damaging themselves internally increases and puts them in the hospital with little or no medical insurance, thus ultimately leaving the public to pay for their hospitalization and medical rehabilitation.
Charles Curie, of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration released a report stating that “the number of adults over 55 is expected to mushroom from about 62 million in 2002 to 75 million by 2010. If current trends continue, researchers say the number of adults over 50 with substance abuse problems will double from 2.5 million in 1999 to 5 million in 2020”.
Fortunately, New York City saw a problem and created a treatment center named Odyssey House which has a program that specifically treats patients 55 and older, and tends to their types of needs.
One New York grandmother started smoking pot when she was 19 years old. She continued using for over 40 years, and three years ago tried crack cocaine for the first time and became instantly addicted. For three years crack consumed her life and almost killed her. She was so ashamed of herself she thought of committing suicide, but found she couldn’t do and instead she sought help. Unfortunately most of the people in rehab were 20 the 30 years younger than her and she felt she had nothing in common with them. She was very grateful to learn about Odyssey House and is now an outpatient there. She is in a program that helps her with her addiction problems and she looks forward to a life without drugs and a better life with her grandchildren.
Otto Feliu of Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., and along with other drug counselors say seniors tend to do better among their peers. During the past year at Odyssey House, those in the Elder Care program had a 55% completion rate in comparison to 25% to 30% in general for adults in long-term residential treatment.
Ross Martinez, 56, a native New Yorker, used heroin for more than 35 years but has been sober for 10 months. He entered treatment before, about 25 years ago. “But I was young. I was strong. I was wild,” he says. “As you get older you get tired,” his voice dropping an octave. “That’s why I came to the Elder Care program, because I knew there were other people who were tired now, too.
If you are reading this and if you even think you may have a problem with drugs and alcohol, please, please, get help. There is life after drug use. Call your local Alcoholics Anonymous group or Addiction services. Get help, and get better. There is no shame in drug addiction; unfortunately it happens to all types of people all over the country. The only shame would be in not getting the help you need to get better.
To find the help you need to get better, please call your local Alcoholics/Narcotics Anonymous Group, or local hospital, or find help on the Web. At
Odyssehouseinc.org
infor@odysseyhouseinc.org
hazelden.org
Any addictions service will be more than happy to help you, all you need to do is take that first step, they will take care of the rest to see that you get better.
