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Cocaine and cannabis on the rise but young Aussies shun booze

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Print articleJul 16, 2020 – 12.00amLog in&nbsp;or&nbsp;&nbsp;to save articlePeople under 30 are less likely to smoke, drink alcohol or consume illicit drugs than previous generations, according to a benchmark survey.For other Australians, the survey shows smoking rates have fallen and alcohol consumption has remained stable but the use of illicit drugs, particularly cannabis and cocaine, is up.The National Drug Strategy Household Survey 19, conducted over three years, benchmarks Australia’s use of drugs before the twin calamities of the summer bushfires and COVID-19, and will be a standard against which the social and behavioural impact of the fires and the pandemic can be measured in future.Conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, it surveyed more than 22,000 people and showed that older Australians, particularly those over 70, were most likely to drink alcohol daily and those in their 40s and 50s were most likely to smoke daily.There has been a marked change in youth drinking this century. Last year, more than 60 per cent of the youngest participants, aged 14 to 17, had never consumed a full standard drink. This is more than double the proportion in 2001.AdvertisementSimilarly, last year 22 per cent of 20-somethings abstained, up almost 9 per cent since 2001.In 2001, 38 per cent of 14-19 year-olds had used an illicit drug at some point in their lives, but by 2019 this had dropped to 22 per cent. By comparison, more than half those in their 40s had used illicit drugs at some time.Overall, cannabis use was up from 10.4 to 11.6 per cent, while cocaine use rose from 2.5 to 4.2 per cent and ecstasy from 2.2 to 3.0 per cent.The survey shows the reclassification in 2018 of medications containing codeine, to make them available only by prescription, largely accounts for the decline in non-medical use of pharmaceuticals.The proportion of people using codeine for non-medical purposes halved since 2016, from 3.0 to 1.5 per cent in 2019.While tobacco is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in Australia, smoking rates have more than halved since 1991 when almost one quarter of Australians were daily smokers.AdvertisementThe daily smoking rate has now dropped to 11 per cent, with more smokers saying the cost was motivating them to quit or cut back.More people cut back on alcohol too, although the proportion of people drinking at risky levels has been stable since 2016.Alcohol remains the most commonly used drug in Australia, with about three in four Australians reporting they consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months.Since 2010, risky alcohol consumption and smoking by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians generally declined while illicit drug use remained stable.Coronavirus: Need to know. Our daily reporting, in your inbox.Log in&nbsp;or&nbsp;&nbsp;to save articleCOVID, Palace Letters, tax reform.The UK and US have accused Russia of trying to steal vaccine research. Follow our live blog here.The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, which was due to expire on June 30 next year, will now run until June 30, 2026.The Morrison government is signalling it will extend industrial relations workplace changes, as the Victorian outbreak threatens a jobs recovery.The penalty – ordered by the competition regulator on Thursday – relates to ahm's 'lite' and 'boost' policies, which entitled customers to joint investigation and reconstruction procedures.Moderna's results were especially promising because the vaccine appeared to offer the type of protection seen in a natural infection, the top US expert said.The Metlifecare requisition notice that never officially existed is no more.&nbsp;Medicinal cannabis cultivator Cann Group was fronting funds on Wednesday morning, with a deal that its biggest shareholder was passing on.&nbsp;The results released overnight involved three doses of the vaccine, tested in groups of 15 volunteers aged 18-55 who got two shots, 28 days apart.

Print articleJul 16, 2020 – 12.00amLog in&nbsp;or&nbsp;&nbsp;to save articlePeople under 30 are less likely to smoke, drink alcohol or consume illicit drugs than previous generations, according to a benchmark survey.For other Australians, the survey shows smoking rates have fallen and alcohol consumption has remained stable but the use of illicit drugs, particularly cannabis and cocaine, is up.The National Drug Strategy Household Survey 19, conducted over three years, benchmarks Australia’s use of drugs before the twin calamities of the summer bushfires and COVID-19, and will be a standard...

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Jill Margo

For 70 years, The Australian Financial Review has been the authority on business, finance and political news in Australia.

Cocaine and cannabis on the rise but young Aussies shun booze

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