DRUG NATION: METEORIC RISE IN DABBLERS

Australians' use of all kinds of illicit drugs - from cannabis and
cocaine to heroin and ecstacy - grew dramatically through the 1990s.

Drug use reached an all-time high in 1998, the most recent year for
which data is available.

New figures demonstrate for the first time the magnitude of the
increase in the use of drugs among people who do not necessarily go
on to become regular or problematic users.

The proportion of people who reported they had ever used heroin
increased by 30 per cent between 1991 and 1998, to 2.2 per cent of
people aged over 14, according to a report released today by the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Its compilation of data from previous national drug-use surveys shows
there was a similar 35 per cent increase in the proportion of people
who had ever used cocaine over the same period - to 4.3 per cent of
the population. The proportion of people who had used marijuana grew
by almost a quarter - by 1998, just under 40 per cent of the
population admitted to having tried the drug at least once. The
highest rate of increase was in the use of ecstasy and other designer
drugs - almost one in 20 Australians had tried them at least once by
1998, more than double the number in 1991.

The figures prompted a call from experts for new strategies to
support young people during the time of their lives when they were
most likely to experiment with illicit substances, in order to
prevent them developing a more serious long-term habit.

The information manager of the National Drug and Alcohol Research
Centre, Mr Paul Dillon, said not all experimentation was equally
likely to lead to regular and harmful drug use.

"You have to look at the reasons why people are experimenting," Mr
Dillon said. Those who took drugs because they felt bad about
themselves were more likely to develop a serious drug problem
compared with people who took drugs casually because they simply
enjoyed the sensation.

Because more people were exposed to some drug use and at younger ages
than in the past, Mr Dillon said it was important to "give good
information to people who are experimenting and provide support for
them at that stage of their lives".

Dr Andrew Byrne, a Redfern GP who specialises in drug and alcohol
addiction treatments, said many social factors contributed to
increased experimentation. "There's no doubt more people have access
to drugs, young people have more money and there's less parental
control," he said.

There was also evidence that drug use was increasingly spanning
social boundaries and confounding stereotypes. "Lots and lots of
middle class housewives and people in pinstripe suits take heroin and
cocaine and even the more unusual drugs such as ecstasy," Dr Byrne
said.