Summary - Department of Health and Ageing

A wide range of laws and regulations control or restrict the availability of licit drugs,
particularly alcohol and tobacco. These include licensing restrictions, advertising controls,
the regulation of sale and supply of alcohol and tobacco to minors, and taxation initiatives
that affect the cost of legal drugs. There are also regulations which govern the availability
of pharmaceuticals, including restrictions on the provision of over-the-counter drugs and
on prescription drugs that can also be used recreationally. Other control strategies include
initiatives to limit the free availability of inhalants, particularly to minors.
Regulations to limit the availability of cigarettes in the general community and,
specifically, to young people, are generally successful.
Many countries restrict or ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship and there is good
evidence that this can reduce tobacco consumption in the general community,
provided the restrictions are sufficiently broad. It has been suggested that Indigenous
communities be given power to regulate the sale of tobacco (as occurs for alcohol in
some communities). This has not yet been attempted but is consistent with the
principles of prevention programs in Indigenous communities.
Increases in the price of tobacco are an effective means of encouraging populationlevel
reductions in smoking levels. Young people’s tobacco consumption is particularly
sensitive to variations in price and weekly income.
Health warnings have been required on cigarette packages since 1969. There was
limited evidence of small reductions in consumption in Australian smokers after health
warnings on cigarette packets were strengthened in 1995.
Approaches to restricting the supply of alcohol to young people include:
restricting advertising and marketing: the evidence for this is inconsistent, although
encouraging the consumption of lower alcohol beverages seems to be effective; and
laws on minimum drinking age: while the minimum drinking age in Australia is
unlikely to be raised, strict enforcement (not always practised) is effective in
minimising harm.
Most of the harm that stems from intoxication is associated with the many people who do
not generally drink excessively but occasionally drink to intoxication. Two-thirds of the
alcohol sold in Australia is conservatively estimated to be drunk in this way. Measures that
reduce overall consumption across the population are also likely to reduce risky drinking
and the amount of alcohol-related harm in the community.