Drug use, hepatitis C and exposure to injecting among young people in Queensland: the Big Day Out Survey 2009

Key findings: Illicit drug use was common among attendees of the Big Day Out who resided in Queensland, with 61.5% reporting that they had used at least one illicit drug in the previous 12 months. The most commonly used drugs were cannabis (by 49.6%), ecstasy (by 43.5%) and amphetamine (by 28.1%). Most drugs were used infrequently and in small quantities. About half of those who had used ecstasy (50.4%) and amphetamines (42.3%) in the previous 12 months had done so infrequently (every few months or less often) and had used small quantities (= 2 tablets of ecstasy; = 1 g of amphetamine per occasion). Injecting drug use was rare, with 2.8% of respondents reporting that they had injected a drug in the previous 12 months. Exposure to injecting was considerable, with 25.2% of respondents reporting that in the previous 12 months they had had a friend or boyfriend/girlfriend who injected, or that they had been offered drugs to inject. Although most respondents (88.5%) reported that they had heard of hepatitis C, knowledge about its transmission and available health services was generally poor. For example, fewer than half knew that a person could not get hepatitis C from kissing (48.9%), sharing toilets (47.1%) or sharing food, cups or cutlery (37.1%). While knowledge about hepatitis C transmission was poor among young people generally, it was only slightly better among those who reported having been exposed to injecting. For example, only a third (31.4%) of respondents who had been exposed to injecting could correctly identify a place where they could get sterile needles and syringes. (Extract of the publication)