http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k5NSDUH/2k5results.htm#Ch2
Posted on 09/07/2006 9:03:19 AM PDT by Incorrigible
By KEVIN FREKING,
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Some moms and dads might want to take a lesson from their kids: Just say no. The government reported Thursday that 4.4 percent of baby boomers ages 50 to 59 indicated that they had used illicit drugs in the past month. It marks the third consecutive yearly increase recorded for that age group by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Meanwhile, illicit drug use among young teens went down for the third consecutive year — from 11.6 percent in 2002 to 9.9 percent in 2005.
"Rarely have we seen a story like this where this is such an obvious contrast as one generation goes off stage right, and entering stage left is a generation that learned a lesson somehow and they're doing something very different," said David Murray, special assistant to the director for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The annual survey on drug use and health involves interviews of about 67,500 people. It provides an important snapshot of how many Americans drink, smoke and use drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Overall, drug use remained relatively unchanged among Americans age 12 and older in 2005. About 19.7 million Americans reported they had used an illicit drug in the past month, which represented a rise from 7.9 percent to 8.1 percent. The increase was not only due to the boomers, but an increase was also seen among those 18-25, the age category that always ranks highest when it comes to illicit drug use.
Among the 18-25 group, drug use rose from 19.4 percent to 20.1 percent. Federal officials commenting on the report emphasized the drop in use among younger teens without citing the increase in the next older age group.
"The news today is there is a fundamental shift in drug use among young people in America," Assistant Surgeon General Eric B. Broderick said in a statement.
Murray called the 18-25 group the gauntlet through which everybody runs. He said the peak of drug use among youth in the United States occurred in the late 1970s.
"And they brought it with them like baggage when they hit 50 and 60," Murray said.
Drug use by baby boomers increased from 2.7 percent in 2002 to 4.4 percent last year. Marijuana was by far their drug of choice, Murray said.
That's true overall. There were 14.6 million people who reported using marijuana in the past month, about 2.4 million cocaine users and 6.4 million people who used prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes, such as pain relievers, tranquilizers or sedatives. In 60 percent of those cases, the drugs came from a relative or friend for free. Only 4.3 percent reported buying the drug from a drug dealer or other stranger.
While drug use went up slightly in '05, so did alcohol use. Slightly more than half of Americans age 12 and older reported being current drinkers of alcohol. That translates to 126 million people, up from 121 million people the year before.
Officials noted that alcohol use among those 12-17 did decline from 17.6 percent to 16.5 percent.
The percentage of Americans who acknowledged driving drunk at least once in the past year also dropped slightly in 2005 — from 13.5 percent to 13 percent.
Meanwhile, tobacco use held steady at about 29.4 percent, even though among youths 12-17, tobacco use did drop from 14.4 percent to 13.1 percent.
____
On the Net:
Office of National Drug Control Policy: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Precisely.
Ingrates, the lot of them.
If you are still using illicite drugs in your 50s sorry man, that's worthy of mockery.. the argument of being young and stupid is long past.
It is interesting however, that your generations acceptance of drug use, compared to your parents overwhelming condemnation of it laid the groundwork for subsequent use by your kids and grandkids... but its of course nothing you had anything to do with.
I Guarantee few of your generation would have looked your parents in the eye and honestly said, "Yea, but you did it".
Just more of your generations legacy... but you refuse to even accept responsibility for it.... no real suprise there.
http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k5NSDUH/2k5results.htm#Ch2
We are only now entering the era of the boomer.
If you think the kids from 5 to 19 ran the United States in the sixties, then you must think that the U. S. is now being run by the kids born from 2001 back to 1987.
A childish world view.
Hundreds of millions of people were murdered all over the world during the "greatest" generations' "watch". It must be their fault, ummm, most of them,,,ummm, some of them,,,,ummm, a few of them,,,ummm,,,oh never mind.
Very good, Mineral Man.
Not that the facts will get in the way of her agenda.
Eniac? I'm talking about the personal computer, there, guy. When I was majoring in electronics engineering in college, way back in 1963, I took computer programing classes. We worked with an IBM 1620. I understand that generation of technology.
I also worked with the first integrated circuit from Texas Instruments...we got samples.
You may remember a couple of guys who developed the first really usable PC, the Apple. Then there was the boomer that created a company that created and distributed the operating system for all those IBM PCs.
You are not typing on an Eniac, my friend.
"She's a class warrier; probably lives in a trailor is my guess"
What does that reference to living in a manufactured home mean?
"If you are still using illicite drugs in your 50s sorry man, that's worthy of mockery.. the argument of being young and stupid is long past.
"
What? I'm using some basic prescription drugs. Did you even bother to read my post? I quit using marijuana in 1972. Now, I take old man drugs. Not viagra...I don't need that one...so far.
Read.
Sorry, but while they now be reaching the higher positions, hardly is this "their" age... Your kids are in their 30s and 40s.
Your impact societally has been undermining the nation for quite a while now.
Big difference between being President, and affecting society.
Contributions that will be dwarfed by following generations, both in relative and absolute terms. An observation that I wish were not true I should add.
"We are only now entering the era of the boomer. "
Yup. With President Bush turning 60, the age of the Boomer is finally with us. We will not see the prior generation around much any more in positions of power, and it's quite a while until the Gen-Xers are doing much with that.
The next, oh 15 years or so will be dominated by the Boomers, at least politically. It just must singe the butts of all those impatient Gen-Xers, you know.
But, they'll get their turn, eventually. Then they can listen to the next generation whine about them, too. What a bunch of maroons, pretending that they have all the answers. Feh!
"Not that the facts will get in the way of her agenda.
"
Well, she seems to have fled the interview at this point. I'm still interested to discover that the survey in that report skipped all the way from age 25 to the boomer age group.
I wonder if there was something too disturbing in that data to be included. Something embarrassing? Hmm....
Sounds like very disturbing data was in there; why else leave so many age groups out? Good catch. Very good catch.
Are these increases/decreases even statistically significant?
I knew I could draw them out...:)but they are easy to ignore. Loved the trailor reference though, if only they knew.....LOL!
Anyway, they always have Bill Clinton to look up to. You can tell how rabid they get having to defend their generation. But it is only 3 or 4 of them.....so what does it matter?
But there is good and bad in every generation, the baby boomers just had more of the bad, but like you said, we will see how they finish.
"Are these increases/decreases even statistically significant?"
I don't know. I'm not a statistician, by any stretch of the imagination. I do know what 4.4% means, though. It means that a very small percentage of boomers use illicit drugs.
Nice to see you can't back up this post you made, which tells us EVERYTHING we ever needed to know about you.
America was never perfect, I have said that many times. Life was better for children (yes, even Blacks). Do you think most black children who grow up in the ghetto are better off now because they can use the same drinking fountain as I?
And you can rest assured that many of us are making changes in our world. Who just took over Congress for the first time in 40 years? Conservatives! It is a cycle, thank God, and things seem to be turning back the other way.
68 posted on 07/26/2006 1:07:43 PM EDT by yellowdoghunter (Vote out the RINO's; volunteer to help get Conservative Republicans elected!)
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