NCJ Number
194333
Date Published
March 2002
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper provides information on the question of age of drug use initiation and pertinent policy implications in Australia through the examination of four recent drug use studies.
Abstract
Over the years, it has been suggested that young people in Australia have been experimenting with drugs at younger ages. This paper focuses on the age of drug initiation and provides an information base for policy development by examining four different population drug use studies: (1) the 1998 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDS); (2) the 1999 Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS); (3) the 1999 Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) project; and (4) the 1998 Illicit Drugs and Property Crime Survey. Research findings indicated that among sentenced property offenders the average beginning age for regular use of cannabis was 14.7 years of age. Amphetamines, heroin, and cocaine revealed an age of under 20 for those who committed property offenses. Additional findings included: (1) the three sentinel populations, injecting drug users, detainees, and prisoners reported lower ages of initiation; (2) among the NDS Household survey respondents there appeared to be an ordered progression of when people began using drugs, starting with cannabis; and (3) the two groups, DUMA and the Illicit Drugs and Property Crime Survey typically reported younger initiation ages. It is indicated that a significant policy goal would be that of delaying age of initiation. It was also noted that because people do not initiate drug use at the same time in their lives the timing of education programs draws significant concern. The four studies demonstrated that those who had moved on to serious drug use or criminal activity had different experiences than members of the general population. Tables and references