Drug Use Drops for America's Youth, Rises in the Over 50 Crowd

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http://abcnews.go.com/US/drug-drops-americas-youth-rises-50-crowd/story?id=20155714

..........Last year, the rate of illicit drug use among children and teenagers 12 to 17 years old dropped to 9.5 percent, down from 11.6 percent a decade earlier, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) latest national survey. ........

Specifically, illicit drug use among adults 50 to 54 has more than doubled since 2002, reaching 7.2 percent last year. For people 55 to 59, such drug use has more than tripled, reaching 6.6 percent last year. .......

At a press conference Wednesday in Washington, officials expressed particular concern about use by those 12 to 17 years old.

"There's no question that marijuana is harmful to the developing brains of adolescents," said SAMHSA administrator Pamela Hyde, adding that marijuana use has been linked to "significant I.Q. declines."

More in 2p. article.....
 
Jenna Bertino, also of New Jersey, was almost brought to tears while telling her story.

When she was 13, two days after Christmas, her father took his own life. Refusing to "face that reality," she started drinking beer and smoking marijuana, and she eventually moved on to pills, she recalled. "Before I knew it, I had a $200-a-day Percocet habit, and I was robbing and lying and manipulating and doing whatever I needed to do to get one more," she said. "I had become a monster. My mom used to sleep with her purse under her pillow out of fear that I was going to come in and rob her."

Her drug use didn't stop there. Ultimately, she moved onto heroin, hanging out in neighborhoods she said she had "no business" visiting.

How does a person get that many pills for just one day? I paid less than $20 for 50 and I don't have insurance.

Those stories are sad.
 
How does a person get that many pills for just one day? I paid less than $20 for 50 and I don't have insurance.

Those stories are sad.

Street/illicit price per pill is WAY higher than buying them from Walgreens, even without insurance.
 
The Over-50 crowd has to do drugs to deal with today's youth.

:floorlaugh:



(just kidding.....sorta')
 
Statistics...Smabistics....lol

I doubt the over fifty crowd that they are referencing ever quit doing drugs since the 60's and how many teens actually tell the truth on those pieces of paper that they fill out to get their statistics from?
 
I can't imagine that a ton of people who never used any illicit drug in their life to suddenly begin to do so at age 50+. So I agree with the person who wrote it is probably people who used drugs all of their lives.

I know there are plenty of old hippies who still smoke pot regularly.

The only other explanation I can think of is that people who have severe arthritis pain would seek pain medication. But why bother paying the inflated prices for street drugs when you can get a prescription from your doctor for such pain?
 
I can't imagine that a ton of people who never used any illicit drug in their life to suddenly begin to do so at age 50+. So I agree with the person who wrote it is probably people who used drugs all of their lives.

I know there are plenty of old hippies who still smoke pot regularly.

The only other explanation I can think of is that people who have severe arthritis pain would seek pain medication. But why bother paying the inflated prices for street drugs when you can get a prescription from your doctor for such pain?

That's the thing: it's getting harder and harder to get pain meds for legit pain due to the abusers.
 
Many of the older people have probably been addicts continually or off and on since they were younger. Being an addict doesn't always kill people quickly.
 

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