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Whariki


 Spacer Spacer Drugs in New Zealand

Drugs in New Zealand National Survey, 1998

Adrian Field and Sally Casswell

Summary
 
This report summarises the results of a national survey of 5,475 people aged between 15 and 45, conducted in 1998. People were interviewed by telephone, and asked about their use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other drugs.
Alcohol
 
Alcohol was the most commonly used drug in New Zealand. Some 90% of men and 85% of women had tried alcohol, and only slightly lower proportions had consumed alcohol in the last 12 months.
 
Almost half of men aged 18-24 drank six drinks or more per occasion at least weekly. One in three women in this age group consumed at least four drinks per sitting on a weekly basis.
 
More than 40% of male drinkers aged 18-19, and almost one-quarter of women drinkers in the same age group, drank enough to feel drunk at least weekly.
 
Comparison with a 1995 national survey on alcohol suggested an increase in the proportion who reported drunkenness, particularly among women.
 
Alcohol was most frequently seen as having a harmful effect on energy and vitality, and also financial position. Men were more likely than women to identify these harmful effects.

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Tobacco
 
Tobacco was the second most commonly used drug in the national survey. Almost two-thirds of the sample had tried tobacco, and more than a third had used tobacco in the last 12 months, with the rates for men slightly higher than those for women.
 
Smoking one or more cigarettes per day was most common among men aged 18-34 and women aged 18-29.
 
Women were more likely to smoke between one and ten cigarettes daily, while men were more likely to engage in heavier levels of smoking (11 or more cigarettes per day).
 
The majority of the sample had never smoked or had smoked only occasionally. One in five of the sample were regular smokers.
 
A majority of smokers felt their use was more than they were happy with.

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Cannabis
 
Cannabis was the third most popular drug in New Zealand, and the most popular of the illegal drugs.
 
Although half of the sample had tried marijuana, the majority did not use it on a regular basis.
 
Twenty percent of the sample had used cannabis in the last year and 15% described themselves as current users. More men than women, and more 18-19 year olds were last year users and current users.
 
For most people who had tried marijuana, use tended to be occasional rather than regular. Only 24% had used marijuana more than twice in the last 12 months.
 
Use of cannabis more than ten times in the last 30 days was confined to a very small proportion of the sample (3%) and only 1% were daily users.
 
The average amount smoked during an occasion was less than one joint and once again men and younger people smoked more.
 
Other forms of cannabis - hashish, hash oil and skunk - showed similar patterns of use to marijuana with skunk’s reported use being in line with its recent introduction and its more common use among younger people.
 
The majority of marijuana users had first tried it before the age of 18, and almost half had tried it by age 16.
 
Most people who had tried marijuana no longer use it. The main reasons for stopping or limiting use were: not liking marijuana; concern over physical and mental health; it was no longer fun or became boring; and having new friends or social scene.
 
The small group of respondents who were using more marijuana did so because of its increased availability; enjoyment of the effect; to forget, escape or cope with problems; new friends and social pressure.
 
Those who never used marijuana were most likely to say they simply didn’t like using the drug or felt no need to do so, followed by health related reasons, and to a lesser extent risk of being caught or fear of the law, and not being in the social scene.
 
One in four of those who had never used marijuana had had the opportunity in the past year to use the drug; this was most common among younger people.

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Marijuana context and supply
 
Marijuana was most commonly used in private homes, and very rarely used in workplaces.
 
A small group of marijuana users (14%) said that at least some of their driving was done under the influence of marijuana, but two out of three said that no driving was done under the influence of marijuana.
 
One in four people thought that smoking marijuana at parties would be acceptable to most people or everyone. Less than one-fifth of respondents (17%) thought that smoking marijuana at the beach with friends would be similarly acceptable.
 
Around three-quarters of respondents felt that smoking marijuana before driving, before work or study, or when children are around, was not generally acceptable.
 
The settings in which marijuana was smoked were usually in groups of three or four people, rather than alone.
 
Respondents tended to acquire and share their marijuana on a casual basis, and a substantial proportion obtained their marijuana for free. Only about one in three current users bought at least some of their marijuana, and only 14% of current users always or mostly tried to keep a supply on hand.
 
Few people (3% of current users) grew all or most of their own supply of marijuana.
 
Most current marijuana users reported that their supplier(s) did not supply other drugs. Of current users who bought at least some of their marijuana, 8% said their supplier had encouraged them to buy other drugs.
 
Responses from current marijuana users who bought at least some of their supply indicated stability in marijuana prices, with most saying prices were the same as the previous year.
 
Access to marijuana was perceived as similar to last year by about half of current marijuana users, and one-third thought access was easier.

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Harmful effects and self-reported problems from alcohol and marijuana use
 
More people reported harmful effects on areas of their lives, such as energy and vitality, financial position and health, from alcohol compared with marijuana, reflecting higher prevalence of alcohol use in the sample.
 
Frequent users of marijuana were more likely to report high levels of alcohol consumption, and to identify harmful effects related to their consumption of both alcohol and marijuana, than those who used marijuana (and alcohol) less frequently.
 
Men tended to be heavier users of marijuana and were more likely than women to report harmful effects relating to use of both alcohol and marijuana.
 
Energy and vitality, financial position and health were also the most commonly cited areas affected by heavier use of both alcohol and marijuana. One in five of the heavier marijuana users also stated they had memory loss associated with their use of the drug.
 
Most marijuana users were happy with their level of use but about one in four felt they were smoking more marijuana than they were happy with. Of these, a small proportion felt they required help to cut down.
 
A very small proportion of marijuana users had not received help when they wanted it. Service related reasons included not knowing where to go, and services were too expensive. A smaller group also reported fear of what would happen if they contacted a service, specifically fear of the police.

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Other drugs
 
Use of drugs other than alcohol, tobacco and marijuana was considerably lower than the three more common drugs.
 
While 22% reported ever trying other drugs, only 9% had used other drugs in the last 12 months.
 
Use in the last 12 months was higher in men, and highest in 18-19 year olds (29% of men and 14% of women in this age group).
 
The most commonly used illicit drugs, other than cannabis, were hallucinogens, tried by 13% of the sample, and stimulants, tried by 9% of the sample.
 
LSD, mushrooms and ecstasy were the most commonly used hallucinogenic drugs. They were used in the last 12 months by 4%, 2% and 1% of the sample respectively.
 
Opiate use was relatively low, with only 1% using any of the opiate drugs (heroin, homebake, morphine and poppies) in the last year.
 
The licit drug, kava, had been tried by 8% of respondents, and used in the last year by 3%.
 
Use of tranquillisers and solvents in the past year were reported by less than 1% of respondents.

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Multiple drug use
 
People were more likely to have tried all three of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, than any drug alone or combination of any other substances.
 
People were more likely to have used either alcohol alone, or alcohol and tobacco, in the last 12 months, than any other drug alone or any other combination of substances.
 
For most marijuana users, alcohol is at least sometimes consumed in conjunction with marijuana.
 
Nine percent of the sample had tried three or more illicit drugs, and 3% had done so in the last year.
 
Seven percent of the sample had never tried any of the drugs asked about, and 11% had not used any in the last 12 months.

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Drugs and the community
 
The level of perceived risk of harm from marijuana and tobacco smoking increased according to the level of consumption. Regular cigarette smoking was seen to be more risky than regular marijuana smoking, although with both substances a majority of respondents saw a "great risk" of harm.
 
Solvent abuse, illegal drugs other than cannabis, and alcohol were rated highly as community concerns by all age groups in the sample.
 
Alcohol was seen as a serious issue for the community in most age groups, although concern was less in younger age groups.
 
Marijuana had a high rating of concern among 15-17 year olds, but was seen as less serious in older age groups.
 
Compared with other drugs, tobacco had a lower rating as a community concern, particularly among younger respondents.
 
People were more likely to perceive levels of enforcement against people using marijuana to be either about right, or too heavy, rather than too light.
 
Enforcement against selling marijuana, and using and selling other illegal drugs, was most commonly seen as too light.

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Region and urbanisation differences

 
More people in the southern North Island and South Island, than the northern North Island, had ever tried alcohol and had used alcohol in the last 12 months.
 
More people from medium urban areas and smaller urban/rural areas, compared with large urban areas, had tried alcohol and used alcohol in the last 12 months.
 
The northern North Island region had a lower rate of trying tobacco than other regions.
 
More people from medium urban areas, and the smaller urban/rural areas, had tried tobacco than people from large urban areas.
 
Having tried marijuana, use in the last 12 months and current use were most common in the large and medium urban areas than in the smaller urban/rural areas.
 
The northern North Island region tended to have higher use of other drugs than the other regions.
 
The large urban areas tended to have higher use of other drugs.

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Comparison with drug use in different countries
 
Alcohol use was fairly similar in Australia, the United States and Ontario, when compared with New Zealand. A notable exception is that more 15-17 year old New Zealand girls used alcohol in the last 12 months, compared with Australia.
 
Considerably higher percentages of New Zealanders aged 15-19 (both men and women) had used tobacco in the last year, compared with Australians in the same age group.
 
The rates in New Zealand of last year use of marijuana were comparable with those of the United States and Australia, but higher than those in Britain.
 
Last year use of other drugs was similar in Australia and New Zealand, with the exception of any hallucinogens, where use in New Zealand was higher, and cocaine and heroin, where use in Australia was higher.
 
Last year use of LSD and hallucinogenic mushrooms was higher in New Zealand than Britain. Use of cocaine and ecstasy in the last 12 months was similar in both countries, while use of amphetamines (stimulants), was higher in Britain.
 
Last year use of LSD tended to be higher in New Zealand than the United States, while use of cocaine was higher in the United States.
 
Ecstasy use in the last 12 months was similar to use in Australia, United States and Britain.

 

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