Drug use and ageing: older people do take drugs!

While usually perceived as behaviour of the young, use of illicitdrugs by people aged 50 and over is increasing in Europe andthe USA. This increase largely reflects the ageing of generalpopulations, and people who use drugs continuing to do so asthey age. For those people dependent upon drugs usually usersof opiates (heroin) and stimulants (cocaine, crack cocaine andamphetamine)], the last 30 years has seen the advent of effectivetreatment and harm minimisation initiatives and, coupled withgeneral advances in medicine, has increased the life expectancyof these drug users. Drug use by older people presents uniqueproblems; biological systems and processes alter naturally acrossthe life course and the effect of concurrent drug use on someof these systems is not well understood. The natural progressionof certain diseases means that symptoms only manifest in olderage and the lives of older drug users are likely to be characterisedby considerable levels of morbidity. Further work is neededon the epidemiology of drug use by older people---a group ofpeople who currently represent a hidden and vulnerable population.