Drug use among young New Zealanders
Results from the Ministry of Health’s 2007/08 Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use have just been released.
Main points from the data on recreational drug use (excluding tobacco and alcohol) are outlined below:
- just over 16% of New Zealanders aged 16 - 64 reported using drugs of some kind for recreational use in the past 12 months
- among 16 – 24 year olds, the proportion was much higher – at 30%.
- young males in the 18-24 age group (38%) reported the highest rate of drug use
- girls aged 16-17 tend to use drugs more than boys at this age: possibly because they socialise with older boys.
Most commonly used drugs in the 16-24 age group are:
- cannabis (28%)
- BZP (15%)
- Ecstasy (5%)
- Amphetamines (4%)
- Nitrous oxide (3%)
To put these findings into context, between 80% and 90% of young people in the 16 -24 age group reported using alcohol in the last 12 months and between 20% and 33% of young people report being current users of tobacco.
Drug use in the last 12 months among New Zealanders aged 16-24
| Ages 16 - 17 | Ages 20 - 24 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Male | Female | |
| Alcohol | 79.6 | 79.4 | 88.4 | 84.2 |
| Tobacco* | 19.8 | 22.1 | 28.3 | 33.0 |
| Cannabis | 21.5 | 28.1 | 35.8 | 27.1 |
| BZP** | 9.5 | 17.3 | 19.8 | 13.5 |
| Ecstasy | 3.3 | 1.4 | 8.9 | 4.9 |
| Amphetamines (speed, crystal meth, P) |
0 | 2.8 | 8.4 | 4.9 |
| LSD | 3.7 | 2.4 | 10.9 | 5.8 |
| SedativesKava; GHB | 3.3 | 0 | 5.1 | 2.1 |
| Nitrous Oxide | 2.4 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
(From the 2007/08 New Zealand Alcohol and Drug Use Survey)
* Tobacco use data is sourced from another survey. The data here denotes "Current users"
** BZP was legal at the time of this survey
