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Illicit drug types

The major types of illicit drugs in Australia include amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, hallucinogens, heroin, inhalants, pharmaceuticals and steroids. Although alcohol is the most widely used recreational drug in Australia, cannabis is the most popular illicit drug. Through the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program, the AIC has been tracking trends in drug use across the nation since 1999 to provide policymakers and law enforcement authorities with critical information on drugs and crime. To find out more about the characteristics of each drug type, their impacts on the user and their source of supply, click on the headings below.

Contents

• Alcohol
• Amphetamines
• Cannabis
• Cocaine
• Ecstasy
• Hallucinogens
• Heroin
• Inhalants
• Pharmaceuticals
• Steroids

Recent publications

• Drug use monitoring in Australia: 2009–10 report on drug use among police detainees
  11 March 2012
• Decrease in use of ecstasy/MDMA
  20 February 2012
• Increase in use of methamphetamine
  03 November 2011
• Poly drug use among police detainees
  19 August 2011
• Patterns of mephedrone, GHB, Ketamine and Rohypnol use among police detainees
  31 May 2011
• Measuring the effectiveness of drug law enforcement
  04 February 2011
• Drug use monitoring in Australia: 2008 annual report on drug use among police detainees
  18 February 2010
• Women, drug use and crime: findings from the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program
  01 April 2009
• Fake ecstasy
  16 September 2008
• Drug use monitoring in Australia : 2007 annual report on drug use among police detainees
  01 September 2008
• Drug driving in Australia
  17 June 2008
• Drug-related crime : evidence from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey
  03 June 2008
• Homelessness, drug use and offending
  15 April 2008
• Clandestine drug laboratories in Australia
  30 October 2007
• Global seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants
  21 August 2007

Recent events

• Medical prescriptions of heroin and neighbourhood risks
  27 May 2010
• Inhalant Use and Disorder
  07 July 2003