Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia

Introduction

As at October 2025, 1,396 individual NPS have been reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Early Warning Advisory (EWA) worldwide (UNODC 2025). The annual number of individual NPS reported to the EWA each year has risen over time, from 460 NPS in 2014 to a record high 688 in 2024 (UNODC 2025). 

There are several types of NPS, including:

• synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs), which are designed to mimic or produce similar effects to cannabis
• phenethylamines, a class of drugs with psychoactive and stimulant effects and includes amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA (ecstasy). NPS phenethylamines include the ‘2C series’, the NBOMe series, PMMA and benzodifurans
• tryptamines, which are psychoactive hallucinogens found in plants, fungi and animals
• piperazines, which are typically described as ‘failed pharmaceuticals’ and are frequently sold as ecstasy due to their central nervous system stimulant properties
• synthetic cathinones, which have an amphetamine-type analogue including mephedrone (‘meow meow’) and methylone
• synthetic opioids, including fentanyl analogues, nitazenes (including protonitazene and metonitazene), and newly emerging substances such as brorphine analogues
• novel benzodiazepines, which often do not belong to a precise category and are grouped into “other substances”. They have sedative and hypnotic effects, varying dosages of active ingredients and contain contaminants, including highly potent synthetic opioids. Other names given to this group of drugs include research chemicals, analogues, legal highs, herbal highs, bath salts, novel psychoactive substances, and synthetic drugs (NDARC 2016, UNODC 2025). 

This page focuses on NPS 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 NPS in this report, see Illicit drug markets and drug-related law enforcement activities. 

What data sources are available?

Data on NPS availability, use and harms are sourced from both survey and administrative sources. However, the available data is limited due to the absence of NPS classifications in reporting and coding systems (Smith et al. 2022). Available data on NPS may evolve as new substances emerge in drug markets.

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

What do we know about new psychoactive substance availability in Australia?

In Australia, the NPS market is highly dynamic with fluctuations in the types of NPS available (Sutherland et al. 2020). NPS account for a small proportion of illicit drug detections at the Australian border each year, but the number of NPS detections has risen over time. 

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

What do we know about people who use new psychoactive substances?

Both the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) and the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) indicate that the use of NPS in Australia is low.

The 2022–2023 NDSHS showed that:

• Lifetime use of synthetic cannabinoids doubled between 2013 and 2022–2023 (from 1.3% to 2.6%), but recent use dropped from 1.2% to *0.1% (AIHW 2024, tables 5.2 and 5.6).
• Lifetime use of other psychoactive substances remained stable between 2019 and 2022–2023 (from 0.7% to 0.8%) (AIHW 2024, Table 5.104). In 2022–2023, less than *0.1% of people aged over 14 had used other psychoactive substances in the last 12 months (*estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution).

In 2025, 13% of EDRS participants reported known use of any NPS in the past 6 months (excluding plant-based NPS). This is stable from 2024 (14%), and down from a peak of 42% in 2013 (Sutherland et al. 2025, Table 17). Use of synthetic cannabinoids was low in 2024, with less than 1% reporting use in the past 6 months (Sutherland et al. 2025). The most common types of NPS used by EDRS participants were drugs that mimic the effects of psychedelic drugs (6%) and ecstasy (3%) (Sutherland et al. 2025). 

Some people may consume NPS unknowingly when these substances are present in other drugs such as methamphetamine, MDMA and cocaine (Peck et al. 2019). In Australia, NPS such as nitazenes have been detected at drug checking services in Canberra and Queensland, and numerous drug alerts have been released related to unexpected detections of NPS in other drugs (CanTEST 2026; CheQpoint 2025). Between July and September 2025 across Australia there were 5 reports for nitazenes across multiple drug alerts reported by The Know (Kypri et al. 2025).

What do we know about the harms associated with new psychoactive substance use?

The use of NPS has been linked to a range of health problems, including (but not limited to):

• cardiovascular problems
• memory and cognitive impairment
• psychiatric problems
• aggression and acute psychosis
• breathing difficulties
• fatigue
• headaches
• nausea and persistent vomiting
• abnormally fast heartbeat (tachycardia)
• seizures
• tolerance and dependence (ACIC 2019; NDARC 2017; UNODC 2024).

There is limited available data on other NPS-related harms including ambulance attendances, hospitalisations and deaths. This is partially due to reporting and coding systems lacking NPS-specific classifications (Smith et al. 2022).

Recent research on coronial data identified 17 deaths attributed to nitazene toxicity in Australia, with the first occurring in 2021 (Darke et al. 2024). 

Where do I go for more information?

• CanTEST
• Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System
• UNODC Early Warning Advisory on New Psychoactive Substances
• The Know