DRUG USE IN MIDDLE AGE INCREASES

Baby boomers' use of marijuana and other drugs is raising usage rates
among older adults, while drug use among teenagers is declining,
according to a national survey released Thursday.

Overall, drug use among Americans rose slightly from 2004 to 2005,
fueled by small increases in cocaine and prescription drug abuse by
young adults ages 18-25 and by rising drug use -- mostly marijuana --
among adults 50-59, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health said.
The survey said 8.1 percent of Americans 12 and older were illicit
drug users in 2005, up from 7.9 percent in 2004 but down from 8.3
percent in 2002.

The use of illicit drugs among baby boomers 50-59 rose 63 percent
from 2002 to 2005, according to the survey, which was sponsored by
the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration. The survey questioned 68,308 people 12 and older
about their substance abuse, smoking and drinking habits.

In 2005, 4.4 percent of adults in their 50s said they had used an
illicit drug during the previous month, up from 2.7 percent in 2002.
Drug use among younger teenagers, however, decreased slightly for the
third year in a row, with 9.9 percent reporting illicit drug use
during the previous month in 2005 compared with 10.6 percent in 2004.

Federal anti-drug officials say the survey indicates that while some
baby boomers who were in their teens and 20s when drug use rates
peaked in the 1970s are taking their drug habits well into middle
age, today's youths aren't embracing drugs as enthusiastically.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are 78.2 million baby boomers,
the generation born from 1946 to 1964. This year, the oldest among
them are turning 60. When boomers were young, "substance abuse became
seen as part of coming of age," says John Walters, director of the
Office of National Drug Control Policy. Some "have carried (it) on
throughout their lifetimes."

Steve Hager, 55, editor of the marijuana advocacy magazine "High
Times", says some people his age with various ailments are choosing
marijuana over pharmaceuticals. "People in their 60s are
rediscovering it," Hager says of marijuana, which has been used as a
pain reliever for glaucoma and other maladies. "It's effective, it's
safe and they feel better. If you're ... using it sparingly, it's the
most wondrous medicine."

The U.S. government does not recognize marijuana as having a
medicinal benefit, but 11 states allow limited use of the drug for
medical purposes.