There have been significant falls in the last three years in the
number of people smoking tobacco and using marijuana, according to
a new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report released
today by the Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott.
The report, 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey:
First Results, launched by Mr Abbott at the Ourimbah Campus of
the University of Newcastle, shows that there were declines in
reported usage across a range of different types of licit and
illicit drugs, but the most significant falls were for tobacco
smoking and marijuana.
The proportion of the population aged 14 years and over who
smoked daily declined from 19.5% to 17.4% between 2001 and
2004.
AIHW report author Amber Summerill said that the 17.4% daily
smoking figure was the lowest ever reported in Australia, and among
the lowest reported rates in the world.
'Between 1991 and 2004, daily tobacco smoking rates declined by
almost 30%', Ms Summerill said. 'And in 2004, as in 2001 when the
last survey was conducted, more than one quarter of Australians
aged 14 years or older were ex-smokers who had quit smoking
altogether.'
Marijuana use also dropped significantly between 2001 and 2004,
from 12.9% to 11.3%.
'This represents roughly 180,000 fewer recent marijuana users in
that time period, and this reduction was significant across most
age groups', Ms Summerill said.
People aged in their twenties were most likely to be
marijuana/cannabis users, and almost 1 in 5 teenagers had used
marijuana/cannabis in the last 12 months.
The 2004 survey was the eighth and largest ever of a series
which began in 1985. Just under 30,000 Australians aged 12 years
and over responded to questions about their knowledge of and
attitudes towards drugs, their drug consumption histories and
related behaviours.
Between 2001 and 2004 there was a decline in the proportion of
population who had used an illicit drug in the past 12 months, from
16.9% to 15.3%.
'This equates to 150,000 fewer recent illicit drug users in
general for the time period,' says Ms Summerill. 'Interestingly, we
also saw an increase in the average age at which new users first
tried illicit drugs from 18.6 years in 2001 to 19.4 years of age in
2004.'
Drugs that respondents said they most associated with a drug
'problem' were heroin (39.4%), marijuana/cannabis (29.2%) and
alcohol (10.0%).
The report also showed falling support for the legalisation of
cannabis between 2001 and 2004 (from 29.1% down to 27.0 %), and
rising support for banning smoking in workplaces (from 81.1% up to
82.3%) and pubs/clubs (from 60.8% up to 68.1%).
Other findings from the survey included:
o There were declines in reported steroid use (0.2% in 2001 to
less than 0.1% in 2004), cocaine use (1.3% to 1.0%), and
hallucinogen use (1.1% to 0.7%).
o Increases were reported in recent ecstasy use (2.9% in 2001 to
3.4% in 2004)
o Almost two in five people who used an illicit drug in the past
month reported high or very high levels of psychological
distress.
7 April 2005
Further information: Amber Summerill, AIHW,
tel. 6289 7225, 0414 270 527
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, tel. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of the 2004 National Drug
Strategy Household Survey: First Results, April 2005.