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Whariki


 Spacer Spacer Drugs in New Zealand

Drug Use in New Zealand Comparison Surveys, 1990 & 1998

Adrian Field and Sally Casswell

Summary

This report compares the results of regional surveys of drug use, carried out in 1990 and 1998. In each survey, random samples of approximately 5,000 people aged 15-45 from a metropolitan area (greater Auckland) and a provincial/rural area (Bay of Plenty), were interviewed by telephone and asked about their use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other drugs.

 

Alcohol

Alcohol was the most widely used drug in both the 1990 and 1998 surveys, but the percentage reporting any use of alcohol fell. This reflected a decrease in the metropolitan but not the provincial/rural sample.
 
There was an increase in the proportion of women in the metropolitan sample who drank larger quantities at least weekly.
 
The percentage of women drinkers in the total sample who drank enough to feel drunk at least monthly in the last year increased by 11% between 1990 and 1998.
 
More women felt they ought to cut down their alcohol consumption; prevalence for men did not change significantly.

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Tobacco
 
There were no differences between 1990 and 1998 in prevalence of ever having tried tobacco, last year and last month tobacco use in the total sample.
 
More 15-19 year old men were smokers in 1998, compared with 1990.
 
Fewer older men had smoked in the past year.
 
The proportion of people who had never smoked was static.
 
The proportion of smokers who smoked more than 20 per day fell from 12% to 5% in 1998.
 
More people saw a risk of harm from smoking.

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Cannabis
 
The percentage of people aged 15-45 years who had ever tried marijuana increased from 43% in 1990 to 52% in 1998. This reflected experiences among older members of the sample in 1998 who were more likely to have tried marijuana at some time, compared to the older age groups interviewed in 1990. This was particularly true of women.
 
Use of marijuana in the last year increased from 18% to 21%. This reflected an increase in the metropolitan sample, but not the provincial/rural sample.
 
Current users (those who had used marijuana in the last 12 months and had not stopped using the drug) also increased in the metropolitan sample, from 13% to 17%, but not in the provincial/rural sample.
 
Both last year use and current use increased more among women than men.
 
Heavier marijuana use (more than ten occasions per month) showed a trend towards an increase between the two survey periods (2.4% versus 3.2%).
 
More people had used marijuana for the first time by age 16 in 1998 compared with 1990.
 
There was no change in the frequency of marijuana use (the majority used marijuana less than once per month on average).
 
The amounts smoked showed small increases among both men and women and across all age groups.
 
Use of hashish and hash oil in the last year fell and remained static respectively.
 
Some 84% of people who had tried marijuana in 1990, and 81% in 1998, had stopped using the drug, or reduced their level of consumption.
 
There was no change in the percentage of people saying they were using more marijuana than in the previous year, at 5% in both surveys.
 
There was no change in opportunity to use marijuana among those who had never used the drug; one in four of this group had the opportunity to use the drug in the last year in both surveys.
 
Last year marijuana use in Australia increased from 20% to 28% among 20-39 year olds between 1991 and 1998. No significant change occurred in this age group in this New Zealand sample between 1990 and 1998, although there was a trend found of increased prevalence in the metropolitan sample.
 
Last year marijuana use in the United States did not change significantly between 1990 and 1997, and was at similar levels to this New Zealand sample.

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Context of marijuana use
 
In both 1990 and 1998, private homes were the main setting for marijuana consumption.
 
Public places were used less frequently than private homes in each survey, and very few people smoked marijuana at work.
 
Most marijuana users rarely, if ever, drove under the influence of the drug.
 
Marijuana smoking took place in a social rather than an individual setting.
 
Marijuana was most often smoked in groups of three or four people, although there was an increase in 1998 in the percentage of users who smoked in groups of two.

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Marijuana supply
 
In both surveys, current marijuana users most commonly reported never keeping a supply on hand, although half kept a supply on at least rare occasions.
 
There was no change in how marijuana was obtained, and most people obtained the drug for free.
 
Very few people in both 1990 and 1998 grew their own supply.
 
Availability of marijuana appears to have increased a little in 1998, compared with 1990.
 
Prices for marijuana appeared to fall between 1990 and 1998.

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Perceptions of marijuana
 
Perceptions of harm risk from marijuana use did not change markedly between 1990 and 1998, but there was a decline in perception of "great" risk from marijuana.
 
There was little change in perceptions of public acceptability of marijuana use over the two surveys. However, there was a decrease in acceptance for use around children and at the beach.
Harmful effects identified from use of marijuana and alcohol
Frequent marijuana users (who were also heavier alcohol users) were more likely to identify harmful effects of both marijuana and alcohol use, than those who had used alcohol or marijuana in the past year.
 
The areas of life most frequently identified as harmed by marijuana use and alcohol use were energy and vitality, financial position, health, and outlook on life.
 
There was an increase from 1990 to 1998 in the proportion of respondents identifying harmful effects on energy and vitality from both marijuana and alcohol.
 

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Harmful effects identified from use of marijuana and alcohol
 
Frequent marijuana users (who were also heavier alcohol users) were more likely to identify harmful effects of both marijuana and alcohol use, than those who had used alcohol or marijuana in the past year.
 
The areas of life most frequently identified as harmed by marijuana use and alcohol use were energy and vitality, financial position, health, and outlook on life.
 
There was an increase from 1990 to 1998 in the proportion of respondents identifying harmful effects on energy and vitality from both marijuana and alcohol.

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Other drugs

More people in 1998 compared to 1990 had used illegal drugs other than marijuana in the last year. The increase was spread across all age groups.
 
More people had used hallucinogens. By 1998, 16% of the sample had reported trying at least one of the hallucinogenic drugs (up from 8%). Current use of hallucinogens was up from 1.5% to 5%.
 
The most frequently reported hallucinogen was LSD, followed by hallucinogenic mushrooms and ecstasy.
 
Use of LSD in the last year was similar in the United States and this New Zealand sample in 1990, but use had increased more in New Zealand by 1998.
 
Last year ecstasy use increased in this New Zealand sample (from 0.4% to 2%), but remained relatively constant in Australia. Ecstasy use in New Zealand in 1990 was similar to the US, but New Zealand use in 1998 was higher.
 
More people in 1998 than in 1990 reported use of stimulants such as amphetamines; last year use increased from 1% to 4%. In contrast, use of amphetamines in the past year in Australia remained constant between 1985 and 1995.
 
Use of cocaine increased slightly in this New Zealand sample, and declined in the United States, but prevalence in New Zealand remained lower than the United States. Last year cocaine use in Australia was fairly stable.
 
There was no change in use of crack and ice in this New Zealand sample, which remained relatively low over the two survey periods.
 
Use of opiates remained very low: just over 1% had used opiates in the past year and both heroin and the reported use of needles did not show any increase. The lack of change in heroin use is consistent with Australian and United States data.
 
Use of solvents and tranquillisers for recreational purposes in the past year also remained at less than 1%. Tranquilliser use in this New Zealand sample remained lower than in the United States.

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Multiple drug use
 
More people in 1998 than in 1990 had not used any drug in the last 12 months, an increase from 11% to 15%.
 
Use of three or more illegal drugs (including marijuana) also increased between 1990 and 1998.

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Drugs and the community
 
In 1998 compared with 1990, perception of marijuana, tobacco and alcohol as serious community problems had increased.
 
Concern with other illegal drugs and solvents still ranked highly but had declined since 1990.
 
By 1998, alcohol was seen as an issue of strong concern to the community, across all age groups, but remained lower in the 18-19 year age group.
 
Perceived seriousness of tobacco increased particularly among younger age groups, so in 1998 there was more similarity in level of concern between younger and older age groups.
 
There was an increase in perception of marijuana as a community problem; concern remained highest in the younger age groups.
 
More people in 1998 thought current levels of enforcement against those using marijuana were too heavy and fewer people thought they were too light.
 
Fewer people in 1998 thought the enforcement against those selling marijuana was too light.
 
More people in 1998 were satisfied with the current level of enforcement against those using and those selling illegal drugs other than marijuana, and fewer people thought it was too light.
 
 
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