150,000 TEENS SMOKING DOPE

NEARLY one in three Australian adolescents smoked marijuana in the past
year, an alarming report says.

Almost half of teenagers have tried the drug and more than 10 per cent or
150,000 smoke dope once a week or more.

The report said children were starting to smoke cannabis at younger ages
with 18 per cent of those under 15 having tried it, up 14 per cent from 1993.

Worrying trends on tobacco smoking also were revealed, including news that
43 per cent of women in their 20s smoke cigarettes.

And smoking rates for women in their 30s have jumped to one in three.

Women who are single, divorced or work in manual jobs also have high rates.

Australian Medical Association president David Brand said at least doubling
the price of cigarettes would deter young people from smoking.

"We want cigarettes to cost at least two times what they do now - $10 or
$20 for a pack - that will have the biggest impact on young people," he said.

Another shock finding was that by 1995, 26 per cent of female adolescents
and 15 per cent of male adolescents were classed as heavy drinkers - males
who had five or more drinks a session or females who had three or more.

Despite a decline in binge drinking overall and a slight drop among
adolescents, adolescent binge drinking rates were still 12 per cent
compared with 5percent for adults.

About 15,000 Australians were asked about their drug use in Patterns of
Drug Use in Australia 1985-95.

Launched yesterday by federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge, the
report combined results from five national drug surveys.

Smoking remained the biggest drug killer, causing more than seven in 10
drug deaths.

Although the proportion of smokers dropped slightly since 1985 - a 6 per
cent drop for males and 5percent for females - 30 per cent of men and 25
per cent of women still smoke.

Heavy smoking - those smoking 20 or more a day - declined by one third.
Highest rates were among the divorced and separated, followed by those who
were single.

Teenagers were waiting longer before starting - up six months to 14.9 for
boys and 16.4 for girls.

Alcohol remained the most-used drug, with just under half the population,
47 per cent, regularly drinking at least one day a week.

Non-drinking is up, with the number of teetotallers rising from 15 per cent
to 20 per cent.

The frequency of drinking among men and women also fell. More men drink
only one to three days a month now than in 1988.

Women who drink often - four to seven days a week - dropped from 21 per
cent to 19 per cent.

Illicit drug use, apart from marijuana, has remained stable or dropped. Men
are about twice as likely as women to use illegal drugs.

Heroin availability declined from 1985 to 1991 but use remained stable.

Amphetamine users rose from 2 per cent since 1988 to 8 per cent of people.

Cocaine use, at 3 per cent, was stable.

Checked-by: Richard Lake