Youth attitudes and opinions towards drug policy and interventions

Commissioned by the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) in recognition of the limited examination to date of young people’s opinions about alcohol and other drugs, the aim of the study was to describe and better understand young people’s ideas on alcohol and other drugs issues.

Young Australians expressed strong support for treatment and rehabilitation, and harm reduction interventions, with strong opposition to alcohol regulation and restrictions on alcohol availability. Very close to two-thirds of young people also opposed the use of sniffer dogs in public places and drug testing at work or school. Young people regarded drug law reform as an effective response to drug issues in their communities, with a high level of support for the legalisation of the personal use of cannabis in particular.

Young people saw themselves as having agency over their own bodies, and conceptualised themselves as discerning, active agents in making choices about drug use. Young people desire policy frameworks that give them and their peers the freedom to make their own choices (with the support of accurate information, access to services and harm reduction options), and are not generally in favour of regulatory measures that more forcibly moderate their behaviour.