One of the fastest growing segments of the population suffering addiction issues are those in their 50s. yes, that is true. The number of people over the age of 50 who are being treated for addiction is drastically on the rise.

According to the Sacramento Bee, in a recent study, older adults who reported using illegal drugs within a year, nearly doubled between 2002 and 2007, while use of nonmedical pharmaceuticals increased from 2.2% in 2002 to 3.9% in 2009.

This is quite terrifying given the extreme expense of medical care. A vast majority of this group will be on public benefit medical insurance, or at least publically-subsidized care in the coming years.

Why are older adults becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol? The study found depression or anxiety to be the number one reason older adults abuse drugs or alcohol. Additional factors such as economic and financial stress and retirement were also cited as contributing factors to dependency. Nearly half of the respondents named prescription drugs and alcohol as their substances of choice.

Society has made strides with educating young people as to the dangers of drugs and alcohol. We would like to think our older generations would know how bad they are. Their reasoning behind addiction is a psychological study for another blog. But we have to see if we can offer them drug classes that will keep them from stepping off the path of righteousness in the future.

So many artists and musicians waste their lives due to drug use and drug abuse. Many die from their afflictions. Others live severely shortened, drug-addled lives. A few become clean and sober and thrive.

Hopefully, that will be the case for Shelly Moses Collins, as reported by TheNorthwestern.com.

Collins is a true gift. A powerful voice with a beautiful face and warm aura helped propel her to a country music star. At her peak she opened for such acts as Barbara Mandrell, Hank Williams Jr. and Willie Nelson.

Cocaine Arrives, Conquers and Destroys

The 47-year-old became painfully addicted to cocaine in her early 20s. It was a habit that consumed all of her time and all of her energy. She admits that she was completely lost to her addiction.

In one surprisingly responsible act, Collins said she entered rehab each time she became pregnant and stayed off cocaine until the babies were born, and never used drugs in front of her children.

In Missouri, Shelley Collins cooked crack for the local drug kingpins, who, to safeguard their dope, would lock the basement she worked in.

It was the first in a series of stints in jail for Shelley Collins — sentences of 2 1/2 years, 12 months, nine months and six months — that followed after she'd fail mandated drug screening on parole, and go back to jail.

Clean and Sober

She has been sober for more than 2 and a half years. Collins credits her faith in The Lord with helping her conquer her addiction. She is using her faith to help others overcome the demon of addiction.

While not singing professionally, she's back in business as a beauty salon owner — a career that cocaine had taken away from her — with her younger sister. She also has formed a 12-step support group.

It is always nice to hear a success story. It is a true shame that she wasted more than half of her life to cocaine. Hopefully, her efforts will continue to fuel my faith that we will curb drug addiction.

Prescription medication addiction is becoming a problem of epidemic proportions in this country. Add fetuses to the growing list of those addicted to prescription medication. No, that is not a typo, and really the only surprise is that obviously fetuses cannot access the Internet – yet!

Medical authorities are witnessing explosive growth in the number of newborn babies hooked on prescription painkillers, innocent victims of their mothers' addictions.

A Long History of Addicted Babies

Health professionals have dealt with addicted mothers and drug-exposed babies for decades.

In the 1960s and 1970s, heroin emerged as a problem. That is when neonatologist Loretta Finnegan, who has studied substance abuse, developed a scoring system of symptoms to diagnose neonatal abstinence syndrome or drug withdrawal in the infants. By the 1980s, the problem had shifted to cocaine and crack. In the past five to 10 years, doctors say they have treated growing numbers of babies hooked on prescription opioid painkillers.

While abuse of many street drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, is declining, painkiller abuse is growing. About 7 million people abuse prescription drugs, including painkillers, according to the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Deaths from prescription painkiller overdoses have more than tripled in the past decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

The epidemic of drug-addicted newborns really follows exactly from the spread of the pill mills, the ability to buy prescription drugs like OxyContin on the street, to get them on the Internet. It's staggering to think of the financial, emotional and social costs of this problem.

Do you think legal remedies are the answer? Should law enforcement charge addicted mothers who give birth to addicted babies with a crime? If not, what is the answer? One thing that cannot hurt is for doctors to make sure all pregnant are educated to the dangers of prescription medications on pregnancies.

The physical violence of the National Hockey League (NHL) is downright terrifying. The way these guys lay on each other out and the hits they take could and should scare the wits out of anybody!

Here is a real life story of an NHL player battling with addiction issues.

As rain washed over him, Todd Fedoruk stumbled on the streets of Tampa, Florida in his latest haze, this one ignited by a concoction of booze and cocaine.

The Bully Unveiled

His secret, reckless lifestyle had fueled his transformation from NHL enforcer to a junkie hooked on cocaine and marijuana that threw his life and career into jeopardy. Fedoruk had been in this dark place before, believing he beat his addiction the first time with the same steely will he needed to scrape with the baddest bullies in the league to earn his keep in the NHL.

Yet here he was, back socializing with the wrong crowds, patronizing the seedy part of towns, hustling for whatever type of drugs he could abuse. On a rainy pre-dawn trip after the 2010 season, a disgraced Fedoruk had nowhere to hide.

“I didn’t want to drive anywhere because I was loaded,” he said. “I couldn’t stay in the house because I was paranoid. All the insanity came back.

“I knew everything was coming to an end. I didn’t care about hockey anymore. I didn’t care about my family. I was struck with this feeling of; how the hell did I get back here after everything I’ve been through? How the hell did I get back in this position again?”

He needed help. Drug addiction was not a disease he could fight alone.

Sitting in an NHL locker room, drinking a cup of coffee, Fedoruk now believes he’s one of the lucky ones. In a summer that has the NHL reeling from three chilling deaths of noted tough guys, Fedoruk is alive to share his story.

“A lot of guys in my role,” he said, “kind of carry these demons around with them.”

Guys like Derek Boogaard.

The first time Fedoruk met Boogaard, they were teenage prospects in Regina, Saskatchewan. Fedoruk, four years older, saw a kid who couldn’t skate, couldn’t fight a lick, yet had already grown into his 200-plus-pound frame that would serve him well as one of the league’s top instigators.

How many people do you know who are addicted to something? By that I don’t mean my friend who is addicted to refurbishing old motorcycles.  I am asking about people who addicted to a chemical substance.

Over the following weeks I will be writing a series of blogs on addictive drugs.  The series will begin with the least addictive and move on to the most addictive.  It will cover marijuana, alcohol and tobacco as well as cocaine, heroin, LSD, barbiturates, benzodiazepines and amphetamines.

One of the major underlying issues is that some people are more prone to addictive behavior.  Believe it or not, research has shown that people can be genetically pre-dispositioned to addictive behavior. 

Look at your parents. Are they addicts? If so, you stand a much greater chance of becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol yourself. That’s not to say that you will.  Of course if you never try a drug, you will never be addicted to it. 

But not all drugs are the same when it comes to being addictive.  I hope you enjoy the series.  As always I welcome your comments on anything we blog about here.  Too learn more about drugs and alcohol and their addictive qualities please take one of our in class or online drug classes.