The Premier's Drug Prevention Council (PDPC) initiated the Victorian Youth Alcohol and Drugs Survey (VYADS), a quantitative survey reporting on frequency, patterns and attitudes to drug use among Victorian young people aged 16โ24. Three surveys were conducted in 2002, with a sample of 1,500 for each survey taken from across metropolitan and rural Victoria.
The surveys showed consistent findings in this age group and findings similar to those of the National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2001, conducted by the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW). Key findings for the combined surveys of 2002 (n=4,500) include:
- The consumption of alcohol is commonplace among young people, with 94 per cent of the combined sample reporting consumption of alcohol in their lifetime.
- Similarly, cannabis use is also relatively common, with 48.4 per cent of respondents for the combined sample reporting use of cannabis in their lifetime and 14.3 per cent reporting use in the last month. Interestingly, 32.6 per cent of respondents either supported or strongly supported the legalisation of cannabis for personal use.
- Other patterns of drug use were considerably lower. Of the combined sample, only 15.6 per cent reported lifetime use of ecstasy, and 13.8 per cent lifetime use of amphetamines. The drug of least use was heroin, with 1.8 per cent reporting lifetime use.
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