Is it normal for all young people to experiment with alcohol and drugs?

Youth alcohol and drug use is increasing in Australia, with a high use of cannabis, hallucinogens, amphetamines, steroids, cocaine, and heroin. With some claiming that the frequent rise in drug use by youth is due to an increase in the availability and variety of illicit drugs, youth are also seen to be using illicit substances in social situations and associated with a partying culture, which can cause problems for the public around the youth users as well as the young people themselves.

It emphasises the possibility of peer pressure, coping mechanisms, and how other young people around a teenager, for example, can be very influential and seen as a social norm if ‘everyone else is doing it.’

Understanding where youth drug and alcohol use occurs is also important, as it allows us to develop more specific strategies for assisting youth with this issue. There was a high prevalence of substance use among Indigenous young people, particularly around prison involvement.

There was a high correlation between Indigenous young people and substance use and where they lived, which included urban and regional/remote locations, suggesting that more attention should be paid to these areas and the indigenous culture surrounding substance use.
This understanding of prevalence and reasons provides us with a broad understanding that leads us to the effects it has on young substance users.