"Cannabis was the most commonly used illicit substance among secondary students. Use increased with age in all recency periods (Table 6.1). Overall, use tended to be higher among male than female students. In the older age group (16 and 17 year olds), males were more likely than females to have used cannabis in the past week, past month and in their lifetime.
"Regular use
"Among the 14% of students who had used cannabis in the past year, 30% of males and 37% of females had used cannabis once or twice, while 38% of males and 29% of females had used it on 10 or more occasions (regular use). Regular use tended to be more common among older than younger students (10% of 12 year olds; 37% of 17 year olds), and among male than female students from age 13.
"How do students use cannabis?
"Past year cannabis users most commonly used a bong (63% of males and 52% of females) or smoked it in a joint (male: 31%; female: 44%). Use of a bong was more common among regular cannabis users while smoking it in a joint was more common among occasional users. Most students had used cannabis with others (81%), most commonly at a friend’s home (37%).
"Cannabis use at home was more common for regular (22%) than occasional (14%) users, while cannabis use at a party was more common for occasional (24%) than regular (13%) users.
"Prevalence 2011-2017
"Among older female students, past month cannabis use was higher in 2017 than in 2014 or 2011. There was no change in lifetime and past week use of cannabis between 2011 and 2017 (Table 6.2)."
Guerin, N. & White, V. (2020). ASSAD 2017 Statistics & Trends: Australian Secondary Students’ Use of Tobacco, Alcohol, Over-the-counter Drugs, and Illicit Substances. Second Edition. Cancer Council Victoria.
