WHILE recent abuse of methamphetamines has fallen, there is a continuing trend toward 'ice' rather than other forms, such a powder, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report presents first results from the 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, including information on nearly 24,000 Australians' use of, and attitudes toward, tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs, with encouraging results around the proportion of non-smoker Australians.
The report said that in 2016, 57% of methamphetamine users were mainly using ice, up from 22% in 2010.
"Overall, the most common recently used drugs were cannabis (10%), misuse of pharmaceuticals (5%), cocaine (3%), and ecstasy (2%)," AIHW spokesperson Matthew James said.
"Other drugs, including ecstasy and cocaine, had a higher number of recent users than methamphetamines," James said.
"Australians are, overall, less concerned about the impact of cannabis, heroin and cocaine than in the past," he added.
Go to aihw.gov.au for the report.
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