Prevalence of Cannabis Use Among Young People in Australia

"Cannabis was the illicit substance most commonly used by secondary school students and prevalence was highest in the older age groups. Sixteen per cent of secondary students surveyed indicated they had used cannabis at some time in their lives with seven per cent using it in the past month and four per cent using it in the past week.
"In all recency periods the proportion of students using cannabis increased significantly with age (p<0.01).
"For all 12- to 17-year-olds, a greater proportion of males than females used cannabis in all recency periods (p<0.01). For 17-year-olds, males were more likely than females to use cannabis in their lifetime, in the past year, past month use and past week. For 16-year-olds, significantly more males than females reported lifetime use, past month use and past week use of cannabis. Among 15-year-olds, past-month and past week use was higher for males than females.
"Type of cannabis used, who it was used with and location of use: Students were asked to indicate whether they usually smoked cannabis as a joint, used it in a bong or ate it. Of the 14% of students who had used cannabis in the past year, the most common method for using cannabis was through a bong (62% of males and 54% of females). Joints were the next most usual method of using cannabis (38% of students who had used cannabis in the past year). The majority of students using cannabis in the past year generally used it with others (81% of males and 85% of females). The most common places for using cannabis were: at a friend’s home (40%), at a party (21%), at home (14%) and in a park (10%).
"Regularity of use: Of the 14% of students who reported using cannabis in the past year, 32% of males and 40% of females reported using cannabis only once or twice, while 39% of males and 26% of females had used it on 10 or more occasions."