Pensioners aged 90 and over being admitted to hospital over cocaine use

NHS Digital figures show that ten people aged in their 90s were taken to hospital last year over “the use of cocaine”
PA
Patrick Grafton-Green10 November 2019

Pensioners aged 90 and over are being admitted to hospital after taking cocaine, NHS research has revealed.

NHS Digital figures show that ten people aged in their 90s were taken to hospital last year with mental and behavioural disorders “due to the use of cocaine”, the Sunday Times reported.

This is five times more than a decade ago, when two people were hospitalised.

Among those aged 60 and over the number of people treated for cocaine-related disorders has increased from 45 a year to 379.

Experts told the Sunday Times the rise in the number of pensioners taking drugs was due to users living longer, the drug becoming more pure and falling prices.

Dr Emily Finch, vice-chair of the addictions faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told the paper the trend was “deeply worrying”.

She said: "Many people don't realise that cocaine use can cause mental health problems, resulting in people becoming so unwell they need to be admitted to hospital."

Karen Tyrell, from drug charity Addaction, added: "We need to shift the narrative to let people know that it's OK to ask for help or support at a much earlier stage."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT