A drug and alcohol survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare last year reveals that smoking and drinking rates in Australia have declined, but illicit drug use in the country has gone up.
According to a report by Anna Morozow for ABC.net, the survey recorded that only 6.5 per cent of Australians still drink daily, the lowest rate since 1991. Fewer teens are also drinking alcohol, as 72 per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds surveyed have been abstaining from the substance in the past three years. Smoking rates are also down to 12.8 per cent of the population in 2013, a sharp fall from the 15.1 per cent recorded in 2010.
This encouraging development, however, is tempered by the survey’s discovery that illicit drug use in Australia has increased. While ecstasy and heroin use has dropped, the use of crystal meth, also known as ice has more than doubled. Prescription drug abuse has also registered an increase according to the report.
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