Patterns of Cocaine Use in Australia, 1985–88

Cocaine has been seen as a potential social and health threat to Australia, a role it already occupies in the United States. However, the results of two national population surveys, collected in 1985 and 1988, cast doubt on this interpretation. Contrary to popular perception, they show that the proportion who report having tried cocaine has declined, not increased. There has also been a decline in the proportion who say that they would try cocaine if it was offered by a friend. While some groups are at higher risk from cocaine in 1988 than in 1985, notably women aged in their late twenties and thirties, the overall pattern is of a decline in the high risk categories. Moreover, cocaine remains a drug of the better-educated young in Australia, not the under-privileged, as in the United States. Some tentative explanations for why cocaine has not become more popular, focusing on its image, Australia's social structure, and availability and cost factors associated with cocaine, are discussed.