Drink, drug consumption for young women on the rise in latest survey

Young women have drawn level with young men as users of illicit drugs, for the first time since records began.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022-2023 has given the country a look at its drug, tobacco, e-cigarette and alcohol usage.

It checks the attitude and consumption of Australians aged 14 and over.

Overall, 18 per cent of those surveyed had taken illegal drugs in the past 12 months, with 47 per cent having done so in their lifetime.

Between 2019 and 2022-23, usage rates for marijuana/cannabis (11.5 per cent) and cocaine (4.5 per cent) remained steady.

Use of hallucinogens and ketamine were both up, from 1.6 per cent to 2.4 per cent, and 0.9 per cent to 1.4 per cent, respectively.

Ecstasy use dropped from three per cent to 2.1 per cent, and the consumption of non-prescribed pain relief and opioids dropped 2.7 per cent to 2.2 per cent.

"Males have historically been more likely to use illicit drugs than females, however 2022–2023 was the first time since monitoring began that females aged 18–24 were as likely to use illicit drugs as males of the same age," AIHW spokesperson Dr Gabrielle Phillips said.

In 2022–2023, 35 per cent of women aged 18–24 reported recent use of illicit drugs, up from 27 per cent in 2019.

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Recent use among young men of the same age remained stable at 35 per cent in 2022–2023.

"Between 2019 and 2022–2023, the use of cannabis (up from 20 per cent to 26 per cent) and cocaine (up from eight per cent to 11.9 per cent) increased substantially among young females aged 18–24," Phillips said.

Similarly, risky alcohol consumption increased among young women, narrowing the gap with young men.

Males aged 18 to 24 were more likely to consume alcohol at risky levels (47 per cent) than females of the same age (35 per cent) in 2019.

In 2022–2023, 45 per cent of males that age consumed alcohol at risky levels compared to 40 per cent of females, the smallest gap seen since 2001.

Alcohol remains Australia's most widely-used drug, with 77 per cent of those surveyed having drunk it in the past 12 months.

Risky drinking has also not changed much since 2019, with rates dropping from 32 per cent to 31 per cent.

Men overall remain much more likely to drink risky levels of alcohol than women, at 39 per cent compared to 23 per cent.

However, this is in the context of a long-term decline in risky drinking, from 50 per cent of men and 27 per cent of women in 2007.

Meanwhile, tobacco use remains in decline, with fewer than 10 per cent of people smoking daily.

Conversely, e-cigarette use has tripped between 2019 and 2022-23.

In 2022–2023, 19.8 per cent of people aged 14 and over in Australia reported having used an e-cigarette at least once in their lifetime, up from 11.3 per cent in 2019.

Current use of e-cigarettes also increased, from 2.5 per cent in 2019 to seven per cent in 2022–2023.