The prevalence of drug use in urban aboriginal communities.
The use of both licit and illicit drugs has been identified as a major health issue for Australian Aborigines. However, data on the proportion of people who use such drugs is scant. This cross-sectional survey of a randomly selected sample of urban Aboriginal people provides information on the use of the drugs alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, heroin as well as petrol sniffing. Overall, a significantly smaller proportion of Aboriginal people were found to be current alcohol drinkers compared to non-Aboriginal Australians. A larger proportion of these drinkers were, however, found to be drinking at levels that were hazardous to their health. A significantly greater proportion of people from the Aboriginal sample were also found to be smokers compared to their non-Aboriginal counterparts. An examination of the use of the illicit substances revealed that a greater proportion reported they had ever used marijuana, compared to the other substances. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the health of Aboriginal people.
Perkins
J J
JJ
Hunter Centre for Health Advancement, Wallsend, NSW, Australia.
Sanson-Fisher
R W
RW
Blunden
S
S
Lunnay
D
D
Redman
S
S
Hensley
M J
MJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D013287:Illicit Drugs