Cannabis use among Australian adolescents: findings of the 1998 national drug strategy household survey

Objective: To describe the prevalence, context and recent trends in cannabis use among Australian adolescents.

Method: Data was collected from 1,581 adolescents aged 14-19 years as part of the 1998 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, and comparisons were made with data from 350 adolescents who participated in the 1995 survey.

Results: Among 14-19 year olds, 47.8% have had the opportunity to use cannabis in the past year and 45.2% have used cannabis at least once in their lifetime. Substantial increases have occurred since 1995 in the prevalence of use among young females. While most cannabis use was fairly infrequent, a minority of 14-19 year olds (9.4%) used cannabis at least weekly. Cannabis use was associated with regular tobacco and alcohol use, and other illicit drug use. Regular cannabis users had lower levels of health on the general health and vitality dimensions of the SF-36.

Implications: These results show that cannabis availability and use is common among Australian adolescents, and confirm that there has been an increase in use between 1995 and 1998, although only among young females. Future research is required to understand why this recent increase has occurred, and trends in cannabis uptake and use patterns among this group should be carefully monitored. Interventions may need to be developed and made available to the group of young people who are using cannabis heavily.