Illicit drug use grows among the elderly

Susie Richardson is not your average recovering addict.

She was 50 years old when curiosity got the better of her and she tried crack cocaine. The result was a "devastating" addiction that for 10 years robbed her of her family's trust and her own dignity. "I had no control over myself," she says quietly. "My husband and kids, they would give me money for bills and instead I spent it on drugs."

Today, after 27 months in a rehabilitation community, Ms. Richardson is clean, sober, and a role model for the more than 50 senior citizens that are battling illicit drug and alcohol addictions at the ElderCare Program at Odyssey House in Manhattan.

Surprising? That's because they're part of what health officials call an "invisible epidemic" of substance abuse that affects an estimated 17 percent of America's senior citizens. The vast majority abuse alcohol and prescription medication. But an increasing number are battling cocaine, heroin, and marijuana addictions as well.

The federal government's National Household Survey on Drug Abuse estimates that 568,000 people aged 55 or older used illegal drugs in the past month. During the next decade, as the baby boomers age, that number is expected to increase significantly. The reason is that the boomer generation used more illicit drugs and alcohol than their parents, and many are bringing those habits with them into their later years.

"The baby-boomer generation will be eligible for Social Security in just six years, and we expect there will be a lot more problems emerging in the not-too-distant future," says Frederic Blow, an expert on drug abuse by the elderly at the University of Michigan.

That will present a significant challenge to the public-health system, already struggling with the unique obstacles that older people like Ms. Richardson present. The first is that older addicts are far more difficult to identify than younger substance abusers. Their problems often become evident at work, or in run-ins with the criminal-justice system. Older people tend to be retired and aren't as likely to rob the corner store as their younger cohorts.

Then there's the stigma. Alcohol and drug abuse are far more likely to be perceived as moral failings in older adults.

"They are more likely to hide their substance abuse and less likely to seek professional help," says Westley Clark, director of the Center for Substance Abuse and Treatment in Washington. "And relatives of elders with substance-abuse problems are often not willing to confront them."

Once they are identified, there's the problem of finding appropriate treatment. It's estimated that only 1 in 10 addicts who need treatment get it in America today. There are even fewer services designed for older adults, who are often coping with other problems at the end of their lives.

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