NEWS: The West 30 Aug 02, WA Drug Use Rate High

WA drug use rate high
By Mark Mallabone
WA HAS the second highest rate of illegal drug use in Australia.
National research figures to be released today reveal more than one in five West Australians - 22 per cent - used illegal drugs in the past year. Only the Northern Territory with 29.2 per cent had a higher rate. The national average was 16.9 per cent.
WA also emerged as having the biggest population of intravenous drug users, 19,300, in the nation. Among this group, injection of the designer drug ecstasy, 20 per cent, was found to be almost as prevalent as heroin, 21 per cent. The most commonly injected drug group was amphetamines.
In comparison, New South Wales had 18,000 intravenous drug users and Victoria 17,700.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report confirmed that marijuana was the State's top illegal drug, with 31.9 per cent, or almost one in three, of young West Australians admitting smoking it in the past year.
The State average, based on people aged 14 and older, was 17.5 per cent - significantly higher than the national average of 12.9 per cent.
Use of other drugs, including ecstasy and amphetamines, also was more prevalent in WA than most other States and Territories.
Almost 6 per cent of West Australians admitted to using amphetamines and 4 per cent had used ecstasy and other designer drugs in the past year.
WA also recorded high rates of alcohol abuse, with almost 11 per cent of the population sinking more than 29 standard drinks every week. Despite the State's poor record on illicit drug and alcohol abuse, West Australians appear to have greater success in giving up cigarettes.
WA's smoking rate, 20.1 per cent, was higher than the national average of 19.5 per cent but lower than that recorded in South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Curtin University's National Research Drug Institute director Tim Stockwell said yesterday WA's high rate of illicit drug use was relatively recent but heavy drinking had existed for decades.
He said the popularity of amphetamines, usually administered intravenously, had risen in the wake of the so-called heroin drought.
The prevalence of amphetamine laboratories in WA probably was also a factor.
There was a clear north-south divide in alcohol consumption, with significantly higher rates found in northern Australia.
This was probably due to hotter weather, a younger population and the presence of more fly in, fly out mine workers with few recreational options. Northern Australia also had more Aboriginal communities, which often recorded high rates of excessive drinking.
taken from..The West
So here in the west we apparently go harder than anyone else. Now can we blame this on our crooked cops selling us the drugs or the meth labs that are on every corner.
[ 30 August 2002: Message edited by: Fry-d- ]

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Originally posted by Shnouzerpuff:
maybe its so high because there is not a whole lot else to do here.
Hahahaha... I just came in to post exactly the same thing.

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