Cannabis: client demographics and treatment

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In 2022–23, cannabis was reported as a drug of concern (either principal or additional) in nearly 1 in 4 treatment episodes (28% or 60,674 episodes) (Table Drg.4).

Cannabis was the third most common principal drug of concern:

  • In nearly 1 in 5 treatment episodes (17% or 37,969 episodes) (Table Drg.4).
  • Over 10 years to 2022–23, treatment episodes for cannabis fluctuated, peaking at 45,043 episodes in 2015–16.
  • In 2015–16 cannabis was surpassed by amphetamines as the second most common principal drug of concern (PDOC).

In 2022–23, almost 3 in 10 (28% or 10,453 episodes) of cannabis-related treatment episodes reported at least 1 additional drug of concern (Table Drg.2). The most common additional drugs of concern were alcohol (33% or 4,992 episodes), amphetamines (24% or 3,660 episodes) and nicotine (24% or 3,624 episodes) (Table Drg.3). Clients can nominate up to 5 additional drugs of concern: these drugs may not have been the subject of any treatment within the episode.

Figure CANNABIS: Closed treatment episodes for own alcohol or drug use by cannabis as a principal drug of concern and top 5 additional drugs of concern, 2022–23

The flow chart shows cannabis as a principal drug of concern broken down by additional drugs of concern.

Note: Diagram presents the top 5 additional drugs of concern for a principal drug of concern. Totals do not add to 100%.

For information on cannabis use and harms, please see:

Client demographics

In 2022–23, 24,702 clients received treatment for cannabis as the principal drug of concern. Of these clients:

  • Nearly 3 in 5 were male (59% of clients) (Table SC.9).
  • Around 2 in 3 people were aged either 10–19 (30% of clients) or 20–29 years (35%) (Table SC.10). This was consistent for both males and females (Figure CANNABIS 1).
  • Around 1 in 5 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (21% of clients) (Table SC.11). This represents a crude rate of 817 First Nations clients per 100,000 people (Table SCR.26).

Figure CANNABIS 1: Clients with cannabis as the principal drug of concern, by sex and age group, 2022–23

The butterfly bar chart shows that male clients receiving treatment for cannabis as the principal drug of concern were most likely to be aged 10–19 (30.5% of clients) or 20–29 (34.6%) in 2022–23. This was similar for female clients (30.6% aged 10–19 and 35.7% aged 20–29).

Treatment

In 2022–23, 37,969 treatment episodes were provided to clients for cannabis as the principal drug of concern (Table Drg.4). 

Among cannabis-related treatment episodes in 2022–23:

  • The most common referral sources into treatment were health services (28% of episodes) and self/family (27%), followed by diversion referrals from the criminal justice system (21%) (Figure CANNABIS 32 Table Drg.28). For more information on diversion clients, see Source of referral and diversion clients.
  • The most common main treatment type was counselling (45% of episodes), followed by assessment only (17%) (Figure CANNABIS 2, Table Drg.27). 
  • Counselling remained the most common main treatment type between 2013–14 and 2022–23.
  • Nearly 7 in 10 treatment episodes took place in a non-residential treatment facility (69% of episodes) (Table Drg.29).
  • The median duration of treatment episodes was over 3 weeks (24 days) (Table Drg.30).
  • Over 3 in 5 episodes ended with a planned completion (64% of episodes), while 20% ended unexpectedly (that is, the client ceased to participate against advice, without notice or due to non-compliance) (Figure CANNABIS 2, Table Drg.29). 

Figure CANNABIS 2: Treatment episodes with cannabis as the principal drug of concern, by main treatment type, reason for cessation or source of referral, 2013–14 to 2022–23 (number or per cent)

The line graph shows that counselling was the most common main treatment type among treatment episodes for cannabis across the 10 years to 2022–23, rising from 16,259 episodes in 2013–14 to 17,192 in 2022–23. Assessment only was the second most common main treatment type in 2022–23 (6,499 episodes), though this fluctuated over time. Filters allow the user to view data as the number or per cent of episodes for main treatment type, reason for cessation or source of referral.

Clients referred via diversion programs

Diversion treatment programs

Throughout Australia, diversion programs have been developed to divert people who were apprehended or sentenced for minor drug offences away from the criminal justice system into drug treatment. Treatment services range from short-term assessment, information or education sessions to longer-term treatments such as counselling and withdrawal management. For more information, refer to Diversion programs in Australia data and the Key terminology and glossary.

Most treatment episodes provided to clients diverted from the criminal justice system are for cannabis, followed by amphetamines. Clients who are referred via diversion may also receive other treatment episodes with a source of referral other than diversion.

In 2022–23, around 1 in 8 clients receiving treatment for their own drug use were referred into treatment via police or court diversion programs (12% or 15,145 clients) (Table SC.13). 

Among these clients: 

  • Around half reported cannabis as the principal drug of concern (47% of clients) (SC.13).
  • 19% of these clients also received alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment following referral through other sources, such as from a health service or self/family (Table OV.14).
  • Over 1 in 5 treatment episodes for cannabis as the principal drug of concern were provided to clients who had been referred via diversion programs (21% or 7,990 episodes) (Table Drg.28).

Diversion clients by selected principal drug of concern

Nationally, in 2022–23 treatment referrals via drug diversion programs accounted for a substantial proportion of treatment episodes for clients with a principal drug of concern of cannabis.

Clients who are referred into AOD treatment via diversion may receive multiple treatment episodes during a collection period, including treatment:

  • for diversion-related episodes only (diversion episodes)
  • for episodes with a non-diversion source of referral (such as a health service), in addition to episodes where they were referred via diversion (combinations of diversion and non-diversion treatment episodes).

In 2022–23, of the total 26,904 diversion-related treatment episodes:

  • Cannabis (48%) was the most common principal drug of concern for diversion referrals into treatment, followed by amphetamines (15%). 
  • Amphetamines (35%) was the most common principal drug of concern for diversion clients who also received non-diversion treatment episodes (Figure CANNABIS 4, Table OV.14).

For clients with no diversion-related referrals, alcohol was the principal drug of concern for nearly half (46%) of the episodes.

Figure CANNABIS 3: Client diversion referrals for own drug use by selected principal drug of concern and client diversion episode type, 2022–23

The stacked horizontal bar graph shows that cannabis was the most common principal drug of concern (PDOC) among treatment episodes provided to clients referred via diversion in 2022–23 (48.2% of episodes). By comparison, amphetamines was the most common PDOC among non-diversion episodes provided to diversion clients (34.5% of episodes) and alcohol was the most common PDOC among non-diversion episodes provided to non-diversion clients (46.4%). 

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