Illicit drug use and serious drinking continue to fall in NSW

The National Drug Strategy Household Survey: State and territory supplement published on August 29 follows the Survey's First Results report released in April 2008. Minister for Health Reba Meagher said new figures show there has been a continued decline in illicit drug use and high risk drinking in NSW. The survey found:
*illicit drug use has fallen from 14.6 p% in 2004 to 12.1% for 2007
*cannabis use fell from 10.7% in 2004 to 8% for 2007
*methamphetamine use decreased from 3.1% to 1.8% in 2007
*ecstasy use remained steady at 3.4% for 2007.
For alcohol use the survey found:
*low risk drinking decreased slightly from 49% in 2004 to 48.1% in 2007
*high risk drinking fell from 32.2% to 2004 to 31.8% in 2007
*daily drinking decreased from 8.8% in 2004 to 8.3% in 2007.
The results are based on a survey of more than 23,000 Australians conducted in 2007, and provide profiles of drug use and community attitudes in each of the states and territories.