https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220328112358.htm

The Baby Boom generation born from 1946 to 1964 has had consistently high rates of substance use. As members of this generation enter older adulthood, the numbers of older adults seeking treatment for substance abuse has also increased. According to data from the Treatment Episode Dataset, a nationwide compilation of services used, available from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the rate of people aged 55 or over getting treatment for substance use increased from 8.8 per 1,000 people in 2000 to 15.1 per 1,000 people in 2017. The increase was almost entirely due to treatment for cannabis and cocaine use; alcohol-related treatment rates stayed about the same over time.

Although the data does not include information that would explain the increase, the researchers have hypotheses. The first is that the Baby Boomers began transitioning to older adulthood from 2001-2017, and their higher rates of substance use followed them.