40 Years Later, Boomers Still Getting High

Some Americans haven't let go of one part of the 1960s era: getting high on illicit drugs.

The percentage of Americans age 50-59 who reported use of illicit drugs within a year nearly doubled between 2002 and 2007, from 5.1 per cent to 9.4 per cent, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported Wednesday.

The agency said that per centage rose because baby boomers - born between 1946 and 1964 - continued to use drugs as they got older.

SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick said the continued drug use "is likely to put further strains on the nation's health care system."

The rates of illicit drug use among all other age groups stayed the same or decreased over the five-year period, the agency said.

Older Americans are also drinking more, research shows.

A Duke University study released earlier this week found binge drinking - consuming five or more alcoholic beverages and long associated with college students- is relatively common among people between ages 50 and 64, according to a USA Today report Monday.

Researchers found that 22 percent of men and 9 percent of women in that age group engaged in binge drinking in the last month. The study also found that 19 percent of men and 13 percent of women had two or more drinks a day, which is considered a heavy drinking habit by the American Geriatric Society guidelines for older people.

Fourteen percent of men and 3 percent of women over 65 also binge drink, according to the study.

The net result of all that drinking might be greater risk of medical problems like stroke, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, neurological damage and poor diabetes control, researchers say.