New Treatment Reports Highlight Retirees, Youth
 SAMHSA's
continued analysis of the 2003 Treatment Episode Data
Set (TEDS) on trends in treatment admissions for alcohol
and drug use across the Nation generated two recent reports—one
on retirees in treatment for alcohol use and one on "first
use" of drugs by youth.
Part of SAMHSA's Drug and Alcohol Services Information
System (DASIS), TEDS is a compilation of data on the
demographic and substance abuse characteristics of admissions
to (and more recently, on discharges from) substance
abuse treatment. This involves data reported by the 50
states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico over the
12-month period of a calendar year.
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Retirees
 Retired
Admissions: 2003 is a new SAMHSA report that
examines substance abuse treatment admissions among retired
persons.
TEDS data from 29 states and other jurisdictions indicate
that 4 out of 5 current retirees in substance abuse treatment
needed treatment for alcohol as their primary substance
of abuse in 2003. This is a far higher proportion reporting
alcohol (80 percent of retirees in treatment) than for
all other admissions to treatment in these states (44
percent).
More than half of all states across the Nation reported
data on retirees. Only 5 percent of retirees in treatment
in the 29 states and jurisdictions reported use of opiates—either
heroin or prescription narcotic pain medications—as
their primary substance of abuse, compared to 13 percent
of other admissions.
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Drug Use Before Age 13
The age when people first use drugs is considered an
important marker in efforts to control drug abuse. According
to SAMHSA's 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(NSDUH), adults who first used substances at a younger
age were more likely to be classified with dependence
or abuse than adults who began use at a later age.
 Age
of First Use among Admissions for Drugs: 1993 and 2003
is a new SAMHSA report that looks at age of first use
among TEDS admissions for drugs other than alcohol. Up
to three substances may be reported in TEDS as being
used at the time of admission. The report classifies
admissions according to the earliest age at which use
began for any of the drugs reported.
The average age of first use among admissions for drug
use showed a slight decrease, from age 18.8 in 1993 to
age 18.6 in 2003. Between 1993 and 2003, the average
age of first use was unchanged among admissions younger
than age 18 (age 12.8) and decreased among all other
age groups.
For a copy of the reports, visit SAMHSA's Web site at
www.oas.samhsa.gov. 
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