That druggie you knew in high school or college may still be dabbling in drugs at the time of your 30th or even your 40th reunion – even though he may be living an otherwise normal life.
That’s the chief finding of a new study that finds Baby Boomers and Generation Xers who started using drugs like cocaine as youngsters often become occasional users well into middle age.
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham tracked more than 4,300 people from four cities for more almost 20 years, beginning in the late 1980s – when they were 18 to 30 years old.
What they found: About a third of the people who used coke, amphetamines and opiates in their younger years continued to take drugs occasionally as functional middle-agers.
Dr. Stefan Kertesz, an associate professor in the UAB Division of Preventive Medicine, dubbed such uses “dabblers.” Researchers also found people who continued to use hard drugs into their 50s were five times more likely to die earlier than those who didn’t.
They reported: “Over one third of adult users, continued use into middle age. These persons were more likely to continue harmful risk behaviors such as smoking, and more likely to die. “