Australians Take More Illicit Drugs, British More Prone to Alcohol Disorders, Study

A team of researchers from the University of Adelaide have come up with the first study that includes global statistics on addictive behaviors.

The results of the study were published in the journal Addiction. The researchers observed that Australians indulged in alcohol and smoking as heavily as their British counterparts and were also found to be using drugs like cannabis, amphetamines and ecstasy.

The study which was conducted over a 12 month period, reported that 10.3 percent of the Australian population used marijuana compared to 5 to 7 percent in Britain. Incidentally, at least 3 percent of Australians have tried ecstasy when compared to 1.3 percent of users from the UK.

With amphetamines, 2.1 percent of Australians used them versus 1.1 to 1.7 percent of users from Britain.

On the other hand, alcohol use was quite high with both UK and Australia, at 84 and 83 percent respectively. Although people from the UK were found to be more at risk to developing alcohol related disorders.

Associate Professor Linda Gowing, the lead author of the report, as published in the press release said, "The report found alcohol and tobacco are the most common addictions in most countries and they are also the most harmful. Eleven percent of deaths in males and six percent of deaths in females are linked to tobacco each year globally. Alcoholism is associated with a range of health issues and takes years off someone's life."