YOUNG people doubled their alcohol intake between the ages of 12 and 19, according to a Federal Government report.The findings of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, which included responses from 30,000 young people, also show drug users report poorer health than non-drug users.
Report author David Batts said heart disease, mental illness and asthma were the most commonly reported problems by drug users aged 14-years and older.
"Most strikingly, one in two Australians who had used heroin in the last month (of the 2004 survey) were diagnosed or treated for mental illness in the last 12 months compared with only one in 11 (9 per cent) of those who had not used heroin in the last 12 months," Mr Batts said.
It was not only hard illicit drugs that had harmful effects.
Three in 10 Australians reported they had been verbally or physically abused by someone affected by alcohol in the past 12 months and one in eight had a similar experience with someone affected by illicit drugs.
The legal drugs most available were alcohol and tobacco.
The illicit drugs most available were pharmaceuticals used for non-medical purposes and cannabis.
One in 11 (8.9 per cent) of Australians drank daily and five in 11, or 42.2 per cent drank weekly, with two in 11 people (16.4 per cent) saying they did not drink at the time of the survey.
One in 14 (17 per cent) of young people aged 12-15 said they had used an illicit drug, cannabis being the most common.
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