Data show more older alcoholics seeking treatment

A Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS) report compiled in 2007 indicates that the number of adults aged fifty or older with substance abuse problems will increase from 1.7 million in 2001 to 4.4 million in 2020. Alcohol was the most frequently reported primary substance of abuse for all patients aged fifty or older admitted for treatment. Among those aged sixty-five and older, 76 percent listed alcohol as their primary substance. Of the older adults admitted for treatment, 48 percent were admitted for abuse of alcohol only. Those aged fifty to sixty-four tended to have other substance abuse addictions as well as alcoholism.