8-27-2023 5:30pm

Binge Drinking and Drug Abuse Hits Historic Highs Among those 35 to 50 and the Elderly

Chris Edwards Editor

In Alamogordo, New Mexico, and elsewhere throughout the US drug abuse is on the rise. Some question with the proliferation of legalized cannabis in Alamogordo, in New Mexico and in a number of cities and states across America if that is a contributor to increased drug use?

A new study released answers a few questions on drug abuse that may be of interest to policy makers locally and on a national scale.

Since 1975, the Monitoring The Future study has annually surveyed substance use behaviors and attitudes among nationally representative samples of eighth, 10th, and 12th graders. The MTF longitudinal panel study conducts follow-up surveys on a subset of the participants after the 12th grade to track their drug use through adulthood. After high school, the participants are followed every other year through age 30, then every five years afterward, with the oldest participants now in their 60s.

To answer the gateway question the National Institute for Drug Abuse says; "the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, "harder" substances. Also, cross-sensitization is not unique to marijuana. Alcohol and nicotine also prime the brain for a heightened response to other drugs and are, like marijuana, also typically used before a person progresses to other, more harmful substances."

However, the National Institute on Drug Abuse released the results of a study this week that does not bold well for the overall drug use picture in America, especially adults ages 35 to 50.

The use of hallucinogens by adults 35 to 50 years old continued a long-term upward trajectory to reach all-time highs in 2022, according to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study, an annual survey of substance use behaviors and attitudes of adults 19 to 60 years old.

Among younger adults aged 19 to 30, reports of past-year marijuana and hallucinogen use as well as marijuana and nicotine vaping significantly increased in the past five years, with marijuana use and vaping at their highest historic levels for this age group in 2022. The MTF study is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and is conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor.

Binge drinking has generally declined for the past 10 years among younger adults, adults aged 35 to 50 in 2022 reported the highest prevalence of binge drinking ever recorded for this age group, which also represents a significant past-year, five-year, and 10-year increase.

Overall alcohol use trends have been gradually increasing for adults ages 35-50, but binge drinking reached its highest reported levels, at 29 percent last year, up from 26 percent in 2021, 25 percent in 2017 and 23 percent in 2012. Past-year drinking overall increased slightly over the past 10 years, from 83 percent in 2012 to 85 percent last year.

With widespread legalization of cannabis there were no surpises in seeing increases in its use. Daily marijuana use also reached its highest level reported in 2022 (11%), which was greater than five years (8% in 2017) and 10 years ago (6% in 2012). Reports of past-year marijuana use among adults aged 35 to 50 also reached an all-time high in 2022 (28%). This had increased from the previous year (25% in 2021) and five years ago (17% in 2017), and more than doubled compared to 10 years ago (13% in 2012).

Vaping is an area of large increases with nicotine and with cannabis. Past-year nicotine vaping among this younger adult group also reached a historic high in 2022 (24%), nearly double the rate reported five years ago in 2017 (14%), when the measure was first added. Among adults aged 35 to 50, reports of past-year marijuana vaping remained at similar levels (9% in 2022) since 2019, when these measures were first available in this age group. Prevalence of past-year nicotine vaping has also remained steady in this age group since it has been reported, with 7% reporting in 2022.

Hallucinogen use among adults aged 19 to 30, 8% reported past-year use of hallucinogens, significantly higher than five years ago (5% in 2017) and 10 years ago (3% in 2012). Types of hallucinogens reported by participants included LSD, MDMA, mescaline, peyote, mushrooms or psilocybin, and PCP. Most of past-year use in 2022 reported by adults in this age group involved hallucinogens other than LSD (7% in 2022).

Past-year hallucinogen use reached historically high prevalence among adults 35 to 50 years old, reported by 4% in 2022. The prevalence reported in 2022 was also a substantial increase compared to the year before (2% in 2021) and five and 10 years ago (no greater than 1% in both 2017 and 2012).

Alcohol use among adults aged 35 to 50 has shown a gradual increase over the past 10 years, with past-year drinking increasing from 83% in 2012 to 85% in 2022. Binge drinking in this older group reached its highest levels (29% in 2022), and increased over the past year, five years, and 10 years (26% in 2021; 25% in 2017; 23% in 2012).

Some positive notes from the study was that the trends of past-year use of cigarettes, sedatives, and non-medical use of opioid medications (“narcotics other than heroin”) showed a 10-year decline for both adult age groups.

Reports of past-year amphetamine use continued are a mixed bag with a 10-year decrease among 19- to 30-year-olds and a 10-year increase among 35 to 50 year-olds.

Drug use trends among college and non-college young adults, demographic subgroups, and other additional data are also included in the report which can be found at this link: https://monitoringthefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/mtfpanel2023.pdf

Drug abuse in Alamogordo, the state of New Mexico and the United States in on the rise. Interesting the perception of young adults leading the abuse of drugs and that cannabis is a gateway drug to young adults is false. The fastest growing age group of abuse is those adults 35 to 50.

The issue however is not unique to that age group. Research by Margaret Mattson, Ph.D, Rachel N. Lipari, Ph.D., Cameron Hays, M.A., and Struther L. Van Horn, M.A. suggests that substance use is an emerging public health issue among the nation's older adults.

Illicit drug use among adults aged 50 or older to increased from 2.2 percent to 3.1 percent between 2001 and 2020 and was projected to increase to at least 5.7 million by 2020.

Nearly 16.2 million adults aged 65 or older drank alcohol in the past month, with 3.4 million reporting binge alcohol use and 772,000 reporting heavy alcohol use. Elder alcohol abuse bring on the rose is also another policy area for consideration by policy makers.

Alamogordo, like most cities across America battle issues of homeless, drug abuse, poverty and other ills of society. Findings from this survey with a consideration of issues unique to that, 35 to 50 year old age group, and the elderly, is important to public policy creation.