A number of studies have found that the use of cannabis and other psychoactive substances is associated
with an earlier onset of psychotic illness.The objective of this article was to establish the extent to which use of cannabis, alcohol, and other psychoactive substances affects the age at onset of psychosis by meta-analysis.
The aim of this monograph is to estimate the costs of treatment and health care related to cannabis use disorders in New South Wales (NSW) for the year 2007. It describes the costs associated with treatment for cannabis use disorder and the health care costs attributable to cannabis use. The rationale for this study was to identify these costs for policy and other research purposes as comprehensive studies on cannabis treatment costs have not been undertaken.
Measuring the effectiveness of drug law enforcement [pdf]
Trends and Issues iin crime and criminal justice, no. 406. Australian Institute of Criminology, February 2011.
Seizing drugs and arresting those who import, manufacture, grow and/or distribute these drugs is often viewed as the most important purpose of drug law enforcement. This view is certainly strong in popular media depictions of organised drug criminals. Unfortunately, the reality is perhaps far less entertaining or straightforward, although just as, if not more, important. While there is no doubt that a key role of drug law enforcement is to remove drugs and high-risk offenders from the community, the most critical factor is what this actually achieves in the longer term. That is, a community that is less burdened by the impact of drugs, such as crime, illness, injury and death.
A 10-page Australian resource sheet summarising evidence on how high levels of alcohol and other drug use-related harm among Indigenous Australians are both a consequence of, and contribute to, the health and social gap between them and non-Indigenous Australians
Substance use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people [webpage]
AIHW, Released February 2011.
The purpose of this report is to assist the work of the National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee (NIDAC), the leading voice in Indigenous alcohol and other drug policy. NIDAC's aim is to reduce alcohol and other drug problems and associated harms in Indigenous communities nationally. Funding support for the report was received from the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health.
This report brings together national data on substance use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to provide a comprehensive picture of smoking, alcohol and illicit substance consumption patterns and how these have changed over time. The report also includes data on the links between substance use and health, and the use of alcohol and other drug treatment services by Indigenous Australians.
[Page Updated - 1st March 2011]
