Drug types
Drug types
Explore content on the use, treatment and health and harms of different drug types in Australia, including alcohol, tobacco and cannabis.
Explore content on the use, treatment and health and harms of different drug types in Australia, including alcohol, tobacco and cannabis.
Key findings
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There have been long-term declines in tobacco smoking in Australia since the 1990s
Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey -
Alcohol use was responsible for 4.1% of the total burden of disease and injury in Australia in 2024
Source: Australian Burden of Disease Study -
11.5% of the general population in Australia had recently used cannabis in 2022–2023
Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey -
Updated
The rate of deaths involving all psychostimulants has risen 5-fold between 2000 and 2024 (from 0.5 to 2.7 deaths per 100,000 population)
Source: National Mortality Database -
Updated
In 2024, there were over 31,000 ambulance attendances involving any pharmaceutical drug among people aged 15 and over (171 per 100,000 population)
Source: National Ambulance Surveillance System -
There were 3,674 hospitalisations with a principal diagnosis of GHB in 2023–24, up from 569 in 2015–16
Source: National Hospital Morbidity Database