While covid-19 is grabbing almost all the attention, the UN has warned today of an “invisible epidemic”: the increasing use of drugs among people over 65 years of age. A little studied phenomenon that will also go around the world due to the aging population.
This is the central theme of the report released today in Vienna by the International Narcotics Control Board (IFJC), a United Nations body that monitors compliance with anti-drug treaties.
“Drug use is increasing among people over the age of 65 at a faster rate than among the youngest,” IFJC President Cornelis de Joncheere told a news conference.
“People live longer and an associated challenge is a growing vulnerability to drug use,” he added.
SOCIAL STIGMA
Older people who use drugs suffer, in addition to great social stigma, more cases of premature death, depression, suicide and early development of degenerative diseases.
The report warns that more than 700 million people in the world – 9% of the total population – are over 65 and that this figure will double by 2050. While rich nations are the hardest hit, the trend also exists in developing countries.
Data in the United States and Europe, where there are more studies so far, point to an increase in narcotic treatments and deaths among people over the age of 65, whether from illegal drugs or other legal substances, such as analgesics or sedatives often obtained irregularly.
Most drug use among the elderly in the United States has tripled in the past decade, and they are the first users in some substances, such as painkillers, tranquilizers, benzodiazepines, and sedatives.
In Germany, between 2006 and 2015, drug use was higher among the population over the age of 40 than among the youngest. And in this country, like France, Spain and the United Kingdom, there is also a greater increase in recent years in cannabis use among those over 65 than in any other age group.
JUST THERE ARE TREATMENTS
JIFE notes that most treatment programs are youth-centered and that this new phenomenon needs to be further studied because there is hardly any data, especially in developing countries.
This increase in drug use is due to several factors: one of them is the aging of post-war generation consumers, born between 1946 and 1964, and who are known as “baby boomers”.
In addition to those long-term consumers who have continued to access drugs over the age of 65, there are those who go to these substances for the first time to alleviate chronic pain related to aging or to deal with other problems such as depression and anxiety.
This second group may fall into the abuse of prescribed medications or in trying to obtain them irregularly to treat an illness due to lack of health insurance or palliative programs.
People over the age of 65 have more specific problems, such as polymedicine, ie the use of five or more drugs a day, and that together with the consumption of substances without supervision can lead to serious health consequences. .
Do not neglect MENTAL HEALTH
The INCB has also called on states not to neglect mental health programs, and especially detox programs, during the covid pandemic because those who attend them are especially vulnerable.
Experts from this body make this call after learning that in more than 40 countries mental health and addiction treatment therapies were suspended or discontinued due to covid.
The JIFE recalls that people who attend these programs are especially vulnerable to the loneliness and isolation posed by containment measures and restrictions imposed to contain the virus.
DRUG SHORTAGE
This UN body is also concerned about the shortage of certain drugs under international control, such as painkillers and sedatives, due to high demand due to the pandemic.
“Growing demand for the treatment of patients with covid-19 has created more shortages and discontinued certain treatments,” he told Efe Joncheere.
Where these analgesics, such as codeine, fentanyl, morphine, and oxycodone, are most consumed, is in rich countries such as the United States, Germany, Austria, and Canada.
Although the report does not have data for 2020, there was a huge inequality in the world before the use of pain relievers before the pandemic.
In 2019, 80% of the world’s population living in developing countries used less than 13% of morphine for palliative treatments, while 87% used it in rich countries.