The number of adults over the age of 50 admitted to substance-abuse treatment centers has more than doubled since 1992, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. However, the rise may be, in part, due to the decreased stigma attached to treatment for substance abuse.

The report also noted that more older substance-abuse patients reported being unmarried, and may be coping with loneliness and also with economic instability brought on by the bad economy.
"What we have is a group of older people who have fewer resources socially, fewer fiscal resources, and have less employability," Peter Delany, director of the substance abuse organization’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality,” told USA Today.

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