Still Tokin': 4 Million Adults Over 50 Still Get High

Baby boomers who came of age in the freewheeling '60s and '70s can't seem to give up their beloved pot, and marijuana use in the over-the-hill set is most prevalent among 50-somethings. Meanwhile, Grandma might have a nasty Xanax habit, for prescription drug abuse is highest among those 65 and older. But the olds are steering clear of the harder stuff, with just 0.5 percent reporting using cocaine in the past year, and just 0.1 percent for most other harder drugs. 

In fact, the rate of drug abuse in the age group has almost doubled between 2002 and 2007.

"You have both prescription drugs being used that people can become addicted to and also people who have had a pattern of use from before," Dr. Ihsan M. Salloum, chief of the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse: Treatment and Research at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, tells Health News.