Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia

There were 121,274 national illicit drug seizures in 2019–20, equivalent to around one seizure every 4.5 minutes. ACIC Illicit Drug Data Report 2021 The number of alcohol-induced deaths reached a 10 year peak of 1,452 (1,056 males and 396 females) after a previous high of 1,399 deaths in 2017. ABS Causes of death 2020 In 2018, tobacco use was the highest risk factor for total burden of disease in Australia (8.6%) and cancers accounted for 44% of the tobacco use burden. AIHW Burden of Disease Study 2018: Key Findings In 2018, alcohol use was the fifth highest risk factor for total burden of disease, with 40% of this burden due to liver cancer and 19.2% of the burden due to chronic liver disease. AIHW Burden of Disease Study 2018 – Key findings In 2019, 52% of LGBTQA+ people aged 14–17 years reported that they never drank alcohol, lower than the proportion of abstainers in the general Australian population aged 14–17 years (73%). Writing Themselves In 4: The health and wellbeing of LGBTQA+ young people in Australia Tobacco use was the highest risk factor for total burden of disease in Indigenous Australians, responsible for 11.9% of the total burden of disease. AIHW Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: key findings for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Pause