Adult Drug Abuse Dangers

Think cocaine, speed and opiates are only for reckless youth?  Not so, it seems. Nearly 10% of Americans in their 50s reported using a recreational drug, other than pot, some time in the past year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. So a small but significant chunk of former flower children and groovy 70s kids didn't outgrow the desire to dabble (or more) in drugs.

But maybe you already know this, because you are one of those adults who still snorts a little something now and then, or takes prescription painkillers outside of doctor's orders? If so, listen up: A new study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that people who continued to use hard drugs into midlife were about five times more likely to die than those who didn't. Although this may seem obvious, you might be surprised to hear that the drug users aren't being killed by fatal overdoses, but rather by other causes, such as heart disease. And they generally weren't addicts, but people who "dabbled" in drugs.

The researchers also found that 50+ drug users were more likely than average to have had disadvantaged—economically or psychologically or both—childhoods, and unsurprisingly they often had other unhealthy habits, like smoking and heavy alcohol use. If any of that sounds like you, or like somebody you love, it's time to seek help.