In a result that straight from the 'well, der' file, almost half the punters aged 16 to 29 surveyed at the Big Day Out admitted to taking illicit drugs in the previous month.
The study was conducted at the Melbourne leg of the Big Day Out. Of those surveyed, 67 per cent said they'd used drugs at least once in their life. Of those who had used in the previous month, cannabis was the most popular at 37 per cent, with ectasy at 22 per cent and amphetamines 15 per cent.
Although drug use was high the research also showed it had dipped slightly since punters were first surveyed in 2005. Drug use declined for all substances except for solvents (such as glue/paint), wich doubled to 2.6 per cent, and cocaine, which rose from 4.5 per cent to 7 per cent.
Meanwhile, binge drinking soared from 32 per cent in 2005 to 54 per cent in 2008. Geoff Munro from the Australian Drug Foundation said that it was disturbing that the BDO was sponsored by alcohol companies - including Smirnoff, Strongbow and Jagermeister.
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Elise Maree
over 1 year ago
I agree that binge drinking has increased in the last few years, with this becoming one of the main problems with festivals today. Do we need to educate young people at the door before attending these events? Maybe we should be handing out flyers or bottles of water to redue the harm.
With illict drug use on the decrease, its time to put our main focus on the dangerous use of alcohol.
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