Both current and past drug use continues to kill members of the "baby boomer" generation, Scripps News reported Jan. 24.

A Scripps Howard News Service analysis of death records for more than 300,000 boomers who died in 2003 found that more died of drug abuse, suicide and accidents than typical of previous generations. The study concluded that more Americans born between 1946 and 1964 are dying of causes associated with aging, such as cancer and heart disease, but also continue to be felled by causes more commonly associated with youth. For example, 24 percent of the boomers who died in 2003 didn't expire from natural causes, and accidents still killed more than one in 10.

"The boomers are carrying forward into old age some risky behaviors that they've been living with and dying from since they were young adults," said Duke University geriatrics and behavioral science expert Dan Blazer. "It's a bit of a myth that boomers have all figured out how to live a quality and great life. Many of them have problems that earlier generations just didn't bring to old age."

In fact, boomers accounted for half of all Americans who died of drug-related causes in 2003, even though they represented only 26 percent of the population. Federal officials expect there to be 4.4 million Americans over age 50 with addiction problems by 2020, and even more who are misusing painkillers and other prescription drugs.

A history of drug use also puts boomers more at risk of suicide, said Jerry Reed, executive director of the Suicide Prevention Action Network. "Since adolescence, they've been drinking and using more drugs than previous generations," he said. "They're less likely to have strong religious beliefs, more isolated, twice the divorce rate of the generation before them, and still facing money and work issues they thought would be behind them in their 60s. This is not going to be an easy period for boomers as they age."