Researchers from the University of Queensland have launched the world’s biggest drug survey.
The annual Global Drug Survey was founded by Professor Adam Winstock from University College London in 2012, and this year the survey will be led by Dr Cheneal Puljevic from UQ’s School of Public Health.
“The aim of the Global Drug Survey is to make drug use safer for people, regardless of the drug’s legality,” Dr Puljevic said.
“We hope to gain insight into drug use across the world, so we can inform individuals and organisations about what’s going on in their communities and how best to reduce harms from drug use.”
The last survey showed that, compared to GDS2020, there were falls in the rates of almost all drug classes, a trend that Dr Puljevic explained might reflect the older age of the GDS2021 sample or an ongoing impact of COVID.
“We saw most drugs (most notably stimulants) being used less frequently during the pandemic,” she said.
“However, the data also confirmed the widespread use of CBD products globally with CBD being used by more people in the last 12 months than any other drug except alcohol, tobacco and THC containing cannabis.”
This year respondents will be asked about drug prices, decriminalisation, tobacco endgame policies, performance and image enhancing drugs, nitrous oxide use and drug use in nightlife and festival settings.
It will also be the first Global Drug Survey to ask questions about the use of illicit tobacco, an urgent, current concern for Australia thanks to the huge jump in illegal sales brought on by some of the highest retail prices for cigarettes in the world.
Just last week the Government announced a major border force crackdown on the importation of illegal tobacco, with $188.5 million committed over four years to the Australian Border Force to deliver a new compliance model in partnership with States and Territories.
Dr Puljevic said there had been very little international research into the tobacco black market.
“Illegal tobacco use has exploded in the past year, with some tobacconists in Australia selling packets of cigarettes for as little as $5,” she said.
“But we don’t really know much about who’s using illicit tobacco or where they’re getting it from.”
The 2024 survey will also include questions about how peoples’ drug use would change if drugs like MDMA and cocaine were decriminalised.
The anonymous online survey has been translated into nine languages and usually gets more than 100,000 respondents from around 25 countries.
“So, our goal is to exceed that this year,” Dr Puljevic said.
“We want as many diverse perspectives as possible, with respondents of all ages, genders and sexual orientations and from rural and urban areas.”
The Global Drug Survey 2024 (https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/) will run until April 30 and takes between 20-30 minutes to complete.