NEW AGE: Forget the image of drug...

NEW AGE: Forget the image of drug rehabilitation centers populated with low-class junkies or indulged celebrities. Today, many of Orange County’s detox beds are filled with elderly patients hooked on toxic cocktails of cold medications, prescription drugs and alcohol, says Max Schneider, an addiction specialist at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. . . . Groups of recovering elderly addicts now meet twice a week at the hospital, and Dr. Schneider has just finished up an educational film. “Seniors are the fastest-growing population in the country,” he says. “As they get older, there’s a spiraling decrease in their ability to cope.”

IN UTERO: The biggest hangover of the ‘80s cocaine-fueled fast life now is hitting like a sledgehammer. Unfortunately, the folks feeling it are the young children of former coke abusers--and those tending it are child-care workers, says Jane Bissell of UC Irvine’s Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program. For the second summer, the UCI program is sponsoring a statewide series of workshops for child-care workers. Says Bissell: “We’re trying to avoid a gloom-and-doom prognosis for these children.”

ON EXHIBIT: OK, so it sounds a little hokey, but the Orange County Alcohol Programs and Drug Abuse Services booth at the Orange County Fair won “best of show,” spurred by a talking horse who tells kids, “Just say neigh to drugs.”. . . . “Last year we had a farmer and his wife. The horse has attracted a lot more attention,” says spokeswoman and part-time talking horse Karen Mergeler, above. Drug abuse exhibits on pregnancy and dysfunctional families also have won praise.

FLASHBACK: Drug abuse counselors say the focus on the dangers of cocaine has some kids sampling other drugs. One of the most popular is LSD. . . . But while LSD makers in the ‘60s tried for a standard of purity, today’s is a “mishmash of hallucinogenic junk,” says Hospital Assn. spokesman David Langness. Orange County hospitals have seen a “marked increase” in LSD-related emergencies in the past two years, “ever since it infiltrated the grunge scene.”