Summary - Department of Health and Ageing

Use of performance and image enhancing drugs is largely confined to those involved in
bodybuilding, some athletes, and people in the security industry. The gay population also
reports a comparatively high rate of steroid use, with around 4% reporting use in the
previous six months. Steroids are the most commonly used PEDs but there is little evidence
that they are a significant public health concern. Use of non-steroid PEDs has become
more common among elite athletes.
A range of substances available ‘over-the-counter’ are used as inhalants. These include
paints, glues, petrol, nitrous oxide (once known as laughing gas), various types of asthma
medication, household gases such as butane and bottled domestic gas, and nitrites. Many
of these products may cause serious harm in both the short and long term. Levels of
inhalant use appear to be significant only in some populations of adolescents and among
these groups, use is rapidly replaced by other substances in later teenage years.
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Australia. Usage rates have risen
substantially over the past twenty years although the most recent figures show a fall in
rates. In 2001, around 33% of Australians had consumed cannabis at some point in their
lifetime, 6% less than in 1998. Usage rates among secondary school children also fell
between 1996 and 1999.
Around 10% of people who use cannabis at some stage become regular heavy users, a
pattern that carries the risk of dependence and conditions such as lung diseases, as well as
modest impairment of cognitive functioning. Although the health risks appear to be
smaller than for most other drugs, adolescents who use cannabis, particularly those who
use it frequently, are at increased risk of a range of social problems in late adolescence and
early adulthood. Cannabis interacts with alcohol and possibly other depressant drugs (i.e.
drugs that inhibit various aspects of brain function) and this poses extra short-term safety
risks (e.g. for driving). For many cannabis users, the most significant harm, both
economically and socially, may be a criminal conviction for use. The relationship between
cannabis use and mental health is discussed below (see page 11).
Population-based surveys such as the NDS Household Surveys, which rely on self-report,
generally underestimate drug use; this is particularly so for illicit drugs as dependent users
are often difficult to reach, due to factors such as homelessness or mental illness, and users
generally may be more likely to under-report their drug use. The surveys nevertheless
show valid trends in usage. Lifetime use of illicit drugs generally fell in 2001 compared to
1998 (see Table 1), with fewer than 10% of the adult population reporting that they had
used any illicit drug other than cannabis. There were small rises, between 1998 and 2001,
in lifetime use of stimulant drugs (amphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine) with ecstasy
showing the largest rise (1.3%). For all other illicit drugs, lifetime use fell over this period.
Heroin has decreased in availability over the past two or three years and only 1.6% of the
adult population reported heroin use in 2001—a fall of 0.6%.