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Gen X, Y using less illicit drugs: federal report
August 29, 2008 01:22pm
MORE than half of Gen X and Y have tried illicit drugs at least once, but drug use has fallen sharply in the past three years.
According to the 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, there has been a significant drop in illicit drug use during the past three years.
The proportion of Australians aged 20-39 who had recently taken an illicit drug fell from 31 per cent to 26 per cent.
One in five Gen Yers said they had recently used cannabis, compared with just 12 per cent of Gen X.
Gen X and Y men were twice as likely to have recently used cannabis than women, but half of both sexes had tried it at least once.
Overall, there has been a decline in cannabis use in the past three years, dropping from 11.3 per cent to 9.1 per cent of the population.
But cannabis remains Australia’s most frequently-used drug, followed by ecstasy, pain killers taken for non-medical purposes and methamphetamines.
A total of 5.8 million Australians had tried cannabis at some time in their lives.
Cocaine use by Gen Y men has almost doubled, from 3.7 to 7 per cent.
Generation X is increasingly taking ecstasy, while Gen Y is turning off the drug.
Use among 30 to 39-year-old men rose from 5.8 to 6.3 per cent, while female users increased from 2.3 to 3.2 per cent.
Education campaigns and overdose stories may have contributed to a significant drop in ice use in the past three years.
Gen Xers are half as likely to take ice as Gen Y, but there was no noticeable difference in use between 2004 and 2007.
Herald Sun