Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia

Introduction

Cannabis continues to be the most widely used illicit drug in Australia and one of the most commonly used drugs internationally, noting that the legal status of cannabis differs across countries. Globally in 2024, around 224 million people aged 15–64 reported using cannabis in the past year (UNODC 2025). This represents around 4.6% of adults worldwide (UNODC 2024).

While most people who use cannabis do not experience adverse effects, cannabis use is associated with a range of harms including morbidity and mortality. The social cost of cannabis use was estimated to be $5.1 billion in 2020–21, projected to rise to $5.2 billion in 2022–23 (Gadsden et al. 2023, Table 1). More than half ($2.8 billion) of the projected costs for 2022–23 were related to the criminal justice system, including imprisonment, administering community supervision orders and the impact on victims of crime (Gadsden et al. 2024, Table 3).

This page focuses on cannabis use, treatment and harms in Australia. The reporting uses data from a range of sources, mostly national administrative and survey data. For related content on cannabis policies and laws, see Policy context.

What data sources are available?

There are a range of data sources available examining cannabis use, harms and treatment in Australia, including surveys, administrative data and burden of disease analysis.

For more information about each data source, see Technical notes.

What do we know about cannabis availability in Australia?

Surveys of people who regularly use illicit drugs indicate that cannabis is readily available in Australia. Cannabis also accounts for a high proportion of illicit drug seizures, arrests and border detections each year. 

For detailed information on cannabis availability, see Illicit drug markets and drug-related law enforcement activities.

What do we know about people who use cannabis?

How many people use cannabis and has it changed over time?

The 2022–2023 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) showed that cannabis continues to have the highest reported prevalence of lifetime and recent consumption among the general population in Australia, compared with other illicit drugs (AIHW 2024b, tables 5.2 & 5.6). For people aged 14 and over in 2022–2023:

• 41% had used cannabis in their lifetime and 11.5% had used cannabis in the previous 12 months (Figure 1).
• The lifetime use of cannabis has increased from 33% in 2001 while recent use of cannabis has decreased from 12.9%.
• Daily cannabis use among people who had recently used it has increased from 14% in 2019 to 18% in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, tables 5.2, 5.6 & 5.33).

Wastewater monitoring also shows that cannabis is one of the most consumed drugs in Australia, though this analysis cannot distinguish medicinal and illicit cannabis use (ACIC 2025). For more information on wastewater monitoring, see Remoteness areas – What does Wastewater monitoring tell us?. 

How many people use cannabis for medicinal purposes?

The NDSHS captures information on people who reported using any form of cannabis for self-described medicinal purposes, including people who had cannabis prescribed to them by a medical professional and those who may have obtained it illicitly (AIHW 2024b). NDSHS estimates on the prevalence of medicinal cannabis use may differ from other data sources, such as data from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on use of medicinal cannabis products.

In 2022–2023, the NDSHS found 3.0% of people aged 14 and over in Australia reported using cannabis for medical purposes in the previous 12 months. This was a small increase from 2019, but the total number of people in Australia who reported using cannabis for medical purposes in the NDSHS did not change substantially (AIHW 2024b). One in 3 (or 1.0% nationally) reported that they had used cannabis exclusively for medical purposes, an increase from 0.8% in 2019 (AIHW 2024b, Table 8.1). Additionally, of people aged 14 and over who had used cannabis in the previous 12 months:

• 22% were always prescribed by a doctor, an increase from 1.8% in 2019 (AIHW 2024b, Table 8.3), potentially reflecting better accessibility to medicinal cannabis prescriptions.
• 48% reported being diagnosed or treated for chronic pain (AIHW 2024b, Table 8.7).
• Of those who used cannabis only for medical purposes, and were prescribed by a doctor, 64% used medicinal cannabis products (for example, pharmaceutical CBD/THC oil) (AIHW 2024b, Table 8.9).

Compared with people who did not use cannabis for medical purposes, people who had recently used cannabis for medical purposes only (and were prescribed by a doctor) were:

• typically, older (39% aged 50 and over) than people who used cannabis non-medically (18%)
• more likely to live in Major city areas (63%) than Outer regional (15.3%) or Remote and very remote areas (*2.4%) (AIHW 2024b, Table 8.6).

* Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

Does cannabis use differ by age and gender?

Recent cannabis use has declined among people in younger age groups and increased among those in their 40s and over in recent years (AIHW 2024b). However, people in their 20s continue to be the most likely to use cannabis. The most recent NDSHS showed that:

• Recent cannabis use among those aged 20–29 fell from 29% in 2001 to 23% in 2022–2023.
• Males aged 14 and over were more likely to have recently used cannabis (13.1%) than females (9.8%) in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.50).

Cannabis is used more frequently than other drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine. Specifically, 21% of people who used cannabis did so as often as weekly or more, compared with only 2.2%* and 3.2% of people who use ecstasy and cocaine, respectively. Males were more likely than females to use cannabis weekly (22% compared with 19%) (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.33).

* Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

Are people using cannabis with other drugs?

Polydrug use is defined as mixing or taking another illicit or licit drug whilst under the influence of another drug. Cannabis use is also highly correlated with the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. This makes measuring the effects of cannabis alone difficult and potentially increases risks for people who use cannabis. 

Data from the NDSHS showed that the use of other drugs with cannabis increased between 2016 and 2019 but subsequently declined across all reported drug types to 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.61). The most common other drugs concurrently used by people who had recently used cannabis were:

• alcohol (74% of people aged 14 and over who had recently used cannabis)
• tobacco (41%)
• cocaine (11.4%)
• ecstasy (10.5%)
• hallucinogens (9.9%) (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.61).

Analysis of NDSHS data indicated that poly drug use varied among different population groups:

• Males were more likely than females to have used alcohol, tobacco, or any illicit drug at the same time as cannabis in 2022–23. 
• People in their 50s were more likely than those in other age groups to have used cannabis at the same time as alcohol or tobacco, while those in their 20s were the most likely to have used it with an illicit drug (AIHW 2024b).

Data on alcohol and other drug-related ambulance attendances are sourced from the National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS), including six Australian states and territories (excludes Western Australia and South Australia). In 2024, the proportion of cannabis-related ambulance attendances where multiple drugs were involved was 45% (Table NASS5).

Does cannabis use differ by geographic area?

Since 2010, there have been slight increases in the proportion of recent cannabis use across most states and territories, remoteness areas and socioeconomic areas (AIHW 2024b). 

Detailed information on cannabis by geographic areas within Australia, including state and territory data, is available in Geographic areas.

What are the harms associated with cannabis use?

The effects of cannabis (like all drugs) vary from one person to another including, but not limited to, the amount consumed, the mode of administration, previous experience, mental health and mood, and body weight (NDARC 2017). The active drug in cannabis makes its way into the bloodstream more quickly when cannabis is smoked, compared to when it is orally ingested. Ongoing and regular use of cannabis is associated with a number of negative long-term effects. People who use cannabis regularly can become dependent and commonly reported symptoms of withdrawal include anxiety, sleep difficulties, appetite disturbance and depression (Hall and Degenhardt 2009; Nielsen and Gisev 2017).

An overview of some of the short and long-term effects of cannabis are provided in Table 1. 

Source: Adapted from (Hall and Degenhardt 2009; Nielsen and Gisev 2017; NDARC 2017).

How does cannabis use contribute to the burden of disease and injury?

The Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024 found that cannabis use contributed to 0.2% of the total burden of disease and injuries in 2024 and 6.9% of the total burden due to illicit drugs (AIHW 2024a, Table S6). Cannabis use contributed 11.6% of the total burden due to drug use disorders (excluding alcohol), 2.6% of the burden due to schizophrenia and 2.5% of the burden due to poisoning (AIHW 2024a, Table S6).

Cannabis-related ambulance attendances

There were nearly 20,600 cannabis-related ambulance attendances among people aged 15 and over in 2024, or 112 per 100,000 population (Table NASS3). Among these attendances:

• almost 3 in 5 (59%) were for males
• attendances were typically for a younger cohort of people, with the highest rate of attendances for people aged 15–24 (230 per 100,000 population) (Table NASS3). 

Between 2021 and 2023, the rate of cannabis-related ambulance attendances overall increased from 96 to 104 per 100,000 population. The rate further rose between 2023 and 2024, to 112 per 100,000 population, with increases in attendances across all states and territories with available data, except Victoria. 

In Victoria, attendances decreased from around 4,700 (84 per 100,000 population) in 2023 to around 3,100 (54 per 100,000 population) in 2024. This is explained by industrial action by paramedics in Victoria between March and September 2024, which resulted in fewer ambulance attendances being captured over that period. Therefore, the national data for 2024 is also lower than expected and should be interpreted with caution (Table NASS3).

Cannabis-related hospitalisations

Cannabinoids accounted for around 1 in 20 drug-related hospitalisations in 2023–24 (4.7% or 6,878 hospitalisations), a rate of 25.5 hospitalisations per 100,000 people (tables NHMD3 and NHMD4) (see Figure 3). This represents an overall decrease from 2020–21 (7,488 hospitalisations, or 29.2 per 100,000), following previous increases from 2015–16 (Table NHMD4).

Among cannabis-related hospitalisations in 2023–24:

• 2 in 3 (66% or 4,561 cannabis-related hospitalisations) involved an overnight stay, while the remainder ended with a same-day discharge. 
• Almost 3 in 5 (59% or 4,066 hospitalisations) were for males.
• Around 3 in 5 (61% or 4,167) were for people aged 15–34, including 1 in 3 (33% or 2,284) among people aged 25–34 (tables NHMD1–NHMD3).

Deaths involving cannabinoids

AIHW analysis of the National Mortality Database showed that in 2024, cannabinoids were directly involved in 2.2% (or 43) of all drug-induced deaths, a decrease from 16.4% (325 deaths) in 2018 (Table NMD2). These numbers should be interpreted with caution due to a recent coding change surrounding the determination of the involvement of cannabis in drug-induced deaths. Prior to 2020, cannabis detected in the blood of a person who died from a multi-drug toxicity was assigned to T40.7 ‘Poisoning by cannabis (derivatives)’. Since 2020, T40.7 is assigned to drug-induced deaths only when cannabis is determined by the pathologist as contributing to the toxicity. Where cannabis is detected in the blood, but is not specified as contributing to the toxicity, it is coded as R78.3 ‘Finding of hallucinogen in blood’. For more information, see Technical notes.

The short-term effects of cannabis can increase the risk of road traffic crashes, largely due to diminished driving performance in response to emergencies (Hall and Degenhardt 2009). In 2016, cannabis was the second most common drug identified as contributing to deaths from transport accidents (among transport accident deaths involving drugs excluding alcohol) (ABS 2017).

How many people receive specialist treatment for cannabis use?

Of the 21,028 clients who received treatment for cannabis as their principal drug of concern in 2023–24:

• Around 3 in 5 (58%) were male (AIHW 2025, table SC.9).
• Almost two-thirds were aged either 10–19 (30% of clients) or 20–29 (34%) (AIHW 2025, Table SC.10).
• Over 1 in 5 (23%) were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (AIHW 2025, Table SC.11).

Additionally, of all treatment episodes provided to clients for their own use of cannabis in 2023–24:

• Around half (51% or 17,265) were for people who had previously received AOD treatment since 2013–14 (AIHW 2025, Table SCR.28a).
• 1 in 6 (17% or 5,968) were provided to clients who had been referred via a drug diversion program, down from 38% (14,919) in 2014–15 (AIHW 2025, Table Drg.13).

Where do I go for more information?

• Cannabis in the NDSHS
• Medicinal cannabis hub