Some baby boomers still getting high, report says

[August 19, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Forty years after Woodstock, some baby boomers haven't let go of one part of the 1960s: 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 percent to 9.4 percent, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported Wednesday.

The agency said that percentage 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.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.