MORE TEENAGE GIRLS USING ILLICIT DRUGS

Heroin and cannabis use among teenage girls in Australia has risen
dramatically in recent years, according to a Federal Government survey
released yesterday.

The figures, which come a week before the Prime Minister unveils a new
strategy in his war on drugs, show 46 per cent of the population in
Australia admitted last year to having used illicit drugs - up from
39.3 per cent in 1995.

The survey also found a rising acceptance among Australians of illicit
drug use, including cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine, LSD and ecstasy.
Even heroin use was seen by a slightly increased number of Australians
to be acceptable, up from 2.4 per cent of the population in 1995 to
2.8 per cent last year, although the survey warned that such figures
had to be treated with caution.

The most startling findings of the Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare survey of more than 10,000 people relate to illicit drug use
by girls aged 14-19, and their markedly faster move into drug use
compared with teenage boys.

More than half of teenage girls, 51.6 per cent, said they had used
illicit drugs, up from 33.5 per cent in 1995. That compares with the
rate for teenage boys of 50.6 per cent, up only marginally from 50.3
three years previously.

Cannabis use for girls rose from 24.4 per cent to 44.8 per cent, while
for teenage boys a small decrease was reported, down from 44.7 to 44.5
per cent.

But women of all ages are using cannabis more. Even for those aged
over 60, the proportion using the drug has climbed from 0.9 per cent
to 4.3 per cent between 1995 and 1998. For all age groups of women,
the rise was from 24.4 to 35.1, compared with all men where the rise
was 37.7 to 43.7 per cent.

The chief executive of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of
Australia, Mr David Crosbie, called for a rethink about drug policy
and said the findings had implications for the Prime Minister's drugs
strategy.

He said the trends revealed by the survey were worrying. "If anything
we are going backwards on illicit drug use.

"We are saying cannabis is a drug we don't want people to use yet
young people, and particularly young women, are taking it up as never
before," Mr Crosbie said.

Mr Crosbie said no matter what people felt about cannabis use,
officially it was not sanctioned, and its use was connected with
acceptance and use of drugs which caused harm.

The Federal Government is putting the final touches to Mr Howard's
fresh attack on the drugs problem, to be revealed at the Premiers'
Conference tomorrow week. Mr Howard is expected to offer Commonwealth
support for schemes which would facilitate the diversion of small-time
drug offenders away from the court system to treatment programs.

The Federal Health Minister, Dr Wooldridge, said there were no easy
solutions in the battle against illicit drug use, but said that since
August last year, the Commonwealth had begun funding community groups
dealing with the battle against drugs.

He said the survey also showed that the Government's efforts to curb
tobacco use were working: the proportion of regular smokers had
declined to 22 per cent last year, down from 24 per cent in 1995. He
said tobacco accounted for almost 80 per cent of the 22,724
drug-related deaths in Australia last year.