Baby boomers, many who were a part of the counterculture of the 1960s, have been using drugs for years and have had difficulty kicking the habit or have progressed to harder drugs, developed an addiction for alcohol, or have become abusers of prescription drugs, according to the article by Christine Hauser.  This has caused substance abuse treatment centers to re-examine their programs, which have traditionally treated teenagers and young adults.

The article quotes Frederick C.

Blow, who has been studying the growing need for treatment of middle-aged and older addicts.  "In treatment of people 55 and older, we are starting to see much more cocaine addiction, which we never saw before," says Blow, an associate professor in the University of Michigan's psychiatry department, who has developed policy recommendations for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "In fact, in some treatment programs, we are starting to see more problems related to stimulant abuse: cocaine, crack and marijuana use."

The article also cites startling figures from surveys conducted by the federal government, noting that in a 2004 survey on substance abuse, it is estimated that more than three million adults 50 and older had used marijuana, hashish, cocaine or crack, heroin, hallucinogens or inhalants or had misused prescription drugs during the previous year.  Experts expect that those figures could more than double by the year 2020, the article stresses.

With long-term abuse, doctors note, comes a myriad of additional medical problems.  For example, prolonged use of cocaine can cause erosion of the nasal passages, arythmia, and other cardiovascular problems.  Couple those with normal diseases of old age, like arthritis, high blood pressure, or diabetes, and it becomes even more difficult to treat these individuals for their addiction without interfering with treatment for other ailments.