Drugs of concern
In 2017–18, for clients receiving treatment episodes for their own drug use:
- cannabis was the most common principal drug of concern for clients in Queensland (32.3% of episodes) (Figure 10; Tables SE QLD.10)
- alcohol was the second most common principal drug of concern, accounting for marginally less treatment episodes (31.9%), followed by amphetamines (22%).
In Queensland, the level of cannabis reported as the principal drug of concern is a result of the police and illicit drug court diversion programs operating in the state (Table SE QLD.12).
Clients can nominate up to 5 additional drugs of concern, these drugs are not necessarily the subject of any treatment within the episode (see Technical notes).
When the client reported additional drugs of concern:
- nicotine was the most common additional drug (20% of episodes), followed by cannabis (19%), alcohol (17%) and amphetamines (12%) (Table SE QLD.11).
Over the period 2013–14 to 2017–18:
- cannabis has remained the most common principal drug of concern since replacing alcohol with a higher proportion of treatment episodes from 2014–15 (Table SE QLD.10)
- amphetamines remain the third most common principal drug of concern, with treatment episodes increasing since 2013–14 (12% to 22%)
- the proportion of treatment episodes where cannabis was the principal drug remained consistently higher than the national rate, peaking at 39% in 2015–16 in Queensland, compared to a national peak (24%) in 2013–14 (Table SD.2).