According to a news report in The Daily Iberian, a newspaper out of Louisiana, police recently arrested a ‘granny’ for selling prescription painkillers. She’s currently out of jail on $100,000 bond. Police said they don’t see grannies selling drugs too often. Unfortunately, the article didn’t say whether or not the person selling the drugs was also addicted herself. Many people who sell drugs do so to support their own habits. Is there any reason to think the same thing won’t happen with seniors? If that was the case with the granny, let’s hope she gets into drug rehab rather than prison.

Unfortunately, seniors who have a drug problem don’t usually tell anyone about it.  Sometimes even family members don’t know anything about it until their grandmother or grandfather dies of an overdose. Medical examiners have said that the problem might be much worse than is known - when an older person dies there often isn’t an autopsy: It’s assumed that there was nothing unnatural about the death because they were older and, possibly, had existing medical conditions.

If you know of any seniors taking prescription drugs - anything that could be addictive: painkillers, benzos, amphetamines - check out what they’re taking, how much of it, and for how long. And get them into a drug rehab program so they can get the help they need.

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