DRUG USE AMONG BABY BOOMERS STAYING STEADY, SURVEY FINDS

Baby boomers, now well into middle age, are still turning on to
illegal drugs, doubling the rates of illicit drug use for the older
generation, according to U.S. government statistics released yesterday.

The rates of people aged 50 to 59 who admit to using illicit drugs in
the past year nearly doubled from 5.1 per cent in 2002 to 9.4 percent
in 2007 while rates among all other age groups are the steady or
decreasing, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration reported.

"These findings show that many in the Woodstock generation continue to
use illicit drugs as they age," acting administrator Eric Broderick
said in a statement.

"This continued use poses medical risks to these individuals and is
likely to put further strains on the nation's health care system --
highlighting the value of preventing drug use from ever starting."

Baby boomers are the post Second World War generation born between
1946 and 1964.

The data used in the study came from various surveys including 16,656
men and women participating in the 2002 through 2007 National Surveys
on Drug Use and Health.