Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia

Introduction

Stimulant use contributes to a range of harms in Australia, including health and social impacts. The estimated social cost of methamphetamine use in 2020–21 was $5.9 billion, projected to rise to $6.1 billion in 2022–23 (Gadsden et al. 2024, Table 1). Most of the projected costs in 2022–23 were related to crime and criminal justice expenditure ($3.9 billion) (Gadsden et al. 2024, Table 3).

This page focuses on amphetamine and other stimulant use, treatment and harms in Australia. The reporting uses data from a range of sources, mostly national administrative and survey data. For related content on laws and policies related to amphetamines and other stimulants and law enforcement activities including seizures and arrests, see Policy context.

What data sources are available?

There are a range of data sources that contain information about amphetamine and other stimulant use, treatment and harms. These include self-report surveys that ask people about their use of amphetamines and other stimulants, health administrative data sets (such as administrative data routinely collected by hospitals), and burden of disease analysis. Each data set uses a different methodology, and the language used to describe amphetamines and other stimulants may also differ across sources.

Data sources on methamphetamine, amphetamine and other psychostimulants contain a variety of terms. In some instances, these terms cover similar but not the same range of drugs.

For more information about each data source, see Technical notes.

What do we know about amphetamine and other stimulant availability in Australia?

Surveys of people who regularly use illicit drugs indicate that amphetamines and other stimulants are readily available in Australia. Amphetamines and other stimulants also account for a high proportion of illicit drug seizures, arrests and border detections each year. 

For detailed information on the availability of amphetamines and other stimulants, see Illicit drug markets and drug-related law enforcement activities.

What do we know about people who use amphetamines and other stimulants?

How many people use amphetamines and other stimulants and has it changed over time?

There are differences in trends and patterns of consumption in Australia according to the type of stimulant used. General population survey data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) indicate that more people in Australia report recent use of cocaine and MDMA/ecstasy than methamphetamine and amphetamine (AIHW 2024b). However, data from the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program (NWDMP) show that methylamphetamine is consistently the second most consumed illicit drug (behind cannabis) measured in wastewater, with higher levels of use than either cocaine or MDMA/ecstasy. In 2023–24, the estimated methylamphetamine consumption across Australia was 12,815 kilograms, compared with 6,835 kilograms for cocaine and 1,430 kilograms for MDMA (ACIC 2025). 

These differences may indicate that while fewer people use methamphetamine than cocaine or MDMA/ecstasy, those who do may use it more frequently or in higher quantities. This is supported by data from the NDSHS showing that almost 1 in 4 people (23%) who used methamphetamine and amphetamine recently did so at least once a week or more, compared with 3.2% for cocaine and 2.2%* for MDMA/ecstasy (*estimate has a relative standard error of 25–50% and should be used with caution) (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.33). 

The difference may also be due to differences in methodologies between the NDSHS and NWDMP collections, including that NWDMP data cannot distinguish between use of illicit consumption and consumption of prescribed stimulants (for example, ADHD medications such as lisdexamfetamine and dexamfetamine) (ACIC 2025).

Methamphetamine and amphetamine

The 2022–2023 NDSHS reported 1.0% of people aged 14 and over in Australia had used methamphetamine and amphetamine in the last 12 months, whereas 7.5% had used methamphetamine and amphetamine in their lifetime (AIHW 2024b, tables 5.2 and 5.6). Most people who had used methamphetamine and amphetamine recently had used powder/speed at some point in their lifetime (67%), followed by crystal/ice (55%) (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.85).

Data from the 2025 Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) and Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) indicate that use of methamphetamine is relatively common among people who regularly use illicit drugs:

• 29% of participants in the EDRS reported use of any form of methamphetamine in the previous 6 months in 2025, stable from 25% in 2024. Methamphetamine use has steadily declined since monitoring began (84% in 2003) (Sutherland et al. 2025a). 
• 82% of participants in the IDRS reported use of any form of methamphetamine in the previous 6 months, stable relative to 2024 (82%). Methamphetamine use previously declined from 89% in 2003 to 60% in 2010, before rising and then stabilising in recent years (Sutherland et al. 2025b).

Methamphetamine powder was the most reported form used among EDRS participants from 2003 until 2021, when use of crystal became more common. Use of crystal methamphetamine in the preceding 6 months has remained stable over the last 10 years (19% in 2015 compared with 20% in 2025) (Sutherland et al. 2025a, Figure 16).

Ecstasy

The 2022–2023 NDSHS found:

• 2.1% of people aged 14 and over in Australia used ecstasy in the previous 12 months, a decrease since 2019 (3.0%) (Figure 1). This may be due to disruptions in the ecstasy market between 2019 and 2022–2023 due to seizures of ecstasy and detections of ecstasy laboratories and COVID-19 disruptions to festivals, raves/dance parties (AIHW 2024b). Early evidence from 2023 suggests that use may already be increasing again.
• Most people (59%) who had recently used ecstasy reported using it once or twice a year, while almost 1 in 3 (31%) reported using it every few months (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.33).

Figure 1: Recent^a use of cocaine or ecstasy, people aged 14 and over, by age and gender, 2001 to 2022–2023

Cocaine

The 2022–2023 NDSHS found:

• 4.5% of people aged 14 and over in Australia used cocaine in the last 12 months, similar to 2019 (4.2%) (Figure 1).
• Most people (58%) who used cocaine recently reported doing so once or twice a year, and over 1 in 4 (27%) used it every few months (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.33).
• Cocaine was the second most used illicit drug, after marijuana/cannabis.
• The proportion of people who reported recent use of cocaine was 3.5 times higher than the level reported in 2001 (1.3% in 2001 compared with 4.5% in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.65).

For participants of the EDRS, cocaine was the second most commonly used stimulant drug (after MDMA/ecstasy), with 79% reporting use in the past 6 months in 2025. More than 9 in 10 (96%) of these participants reported using cocaine in powder form. Recent cocaine use has remained stable from 2021 following previous rises (Sutherland et al. 2025a).

Does amphetamine and other stimulant use differ by age?

The 2022–2023 NDSHS found:

• People aged 20–29 (1.7%), 30–39 (1.5%) and 40–49 (1.7%) had the highest proportions of recent methamphetamine and amphetamine use in 2022–2023. 
• In 2022–2023, people aged 20–29 were more likely to have recently used MDMA/ecstasy (7.5%) and cocaine (11.8%) than those in other age groups (AIHW 2024b, Tables 5.65 and 5.73).
• Recent cocaine use remained stable between 2019 and 2022–2023 across all age groups, except those in their 30s where use increased from 6.5% in 2019 to 8.1% in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.65).

Does amphetamine and other stimulant use differ by gender?

The 2022–2023 NDSHS found:

• A similar proportion of males (1.1%) and females (0.9%) aged 14 and over reported recent methamphetamine and amphetamine use in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.83).
• A higher proportion of males than females reported recent MDMA/ecstasy use in 2022–2023 (2.5% compared with 1.6%) (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.73).
• The proportion of females who had recently used cocaine increased in 2022–‍2023 (3.7%), while recent use of cocaine remained stable among males (5.3%), narrowing the gap between males’ and females’ use (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.65) (Figure 1).

Are people using amphetamines and other stimulants with other drugs?

Polydrug use is defined as the use of mixing or taking another illicit or licit drug whilst under the influence of another drug. In 2022–2023, the NDSHS showed that among people who had used methamphetamine or amphetamine in the previous 12 months:

• Alcohol (71%) and tobacco (56%) were the most common other drugs used at the same time.
• Cannabis (48%) and MDMA/ecstasy (31%) were the most common illicit drugs used at the same time.
• *11.1% said they did not use any other illicit drug (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.96).

* Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

People who reported recent use of MDMA/ecstasy and cocaine also reported concurrent use of cannabis (38% and 26%, respectively) (AIHW 2024b, tables 5.69 and 5.79).

Data on alcohol and other drug-related ambulance attendances are sourced from the National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS), including six Australian states and territories (excludes Western Australia and South Australia). In 2024, multiple drugs were involved in around:

• 2 in 5 (39%) amphetamine-related ambulance attendances
• 7 in 10 (69%) of cocaine-related attendances
• 3 in 4 (76%) of ecstasy-related attendances (Table NASS5).

Does amphetamine and other stimulant use differ by geographic area?

A higher proportion of people living in remote areas of Australia reported recent use of methamphetamine and amphetamine than people living in urban and regional areas. However, there was little variation in the recent use of methamphetamine and amphetamine across socioeconomic areas (AIHW 2024b, tables 9a.12 and 9a.14). Cocaine and MDMA/ecstasy use were higher among those who lived in cities or the highest socioeconomic areas.

Detailed information on amphetamines and other stimulants by geographic area is available in State and territory data, Remoteness areas, and Socioeconomic areas.

What are the harms associated with amphetamine and other stimulant use?

The short and long-term effects associated with the use of methamphetamine and other stimulants are provided in Table 1. 

Source Adapted from ACIC 2019; Darke et al. 2017; NDARC 2017.

Data from the EDRS indicate that almost 1 in 5 (18%) EDRS participants reported experiencing a non-fatal stimulant overdose in the last 12 months in 2025 (Sutherland et al. 2025a).

How does amphetamine and other stimulant use contribute to the burden of disease and injury?

The Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024 found that amphetamine use was responsible for 0.7% of the total burden of disease and injuries in Australia in 2024 and 25% of the total burden due to illicit drug use (AIHW 2024a, Table S6). Amphetamine use was responsible for 32% of the disease burden of drug use disorder (excluding alcohol) and 22% of the burden due to poisoning (AIHW 2024a, Table S8).

Cocaine use contributed 0.3% of the total burden of disease and injuries in 2024 and 11% of the total burden due to illicit drug use (Table S6). Cocaine use contributed 11% to the burden due to drug use disorders (excluding alcohol) and 3.2% of the burden due to poisoning (AIHW 2024a, Table S8).

Amphetamine and other stimulant-related ambulance attendances

In 2024, among people aged 15 and over, there were over 18,200 ambulance attendances involving amphetamines (99 per 100,000 population), 4,200 involving cocaine (23 per 100,000) and 2,300 involving ecstasy (13 per 100,000) (Table NASS3). 

Among attendances for amphetamines, cocaine and ecstasy in 2024:

• more than half were for males (ranging from 59% for ecstasy to 68% for cocaine)
• the highest rate of attendances involving amphetamines was for people aged 25–34 (184 per 100,000 population), while for cocaine and ecstasy the highest rates were for those aged 15–24 (53 and 49 per 100,000, respectively) (Table NASS3).

Between 2021 and 2023, rates of ambulance attendances for amphetamines and cocaine overall rose, while for ecstasy, they remained stable. The rates further rose for all three drugs between 2023 and 2024, with increases in attendances across most states and territories with available data. 

In Victoria, attendances decreased for all three drugs in 2024. This is explained by industrial action by paramedics in Victoria between March and September 2024, which resulted in fewer ambulance attendances being captured over that period. Therefore, the jurisdictional total data for 2024 is lower than expected and should be interpreted with caution (Table NASS3).

Amphetamine and other stimulant-related hospitalisations

Amphetamines and other stimulants (including methamphetamine) are among the most common illicit drugs involved in drug-related hospitalisations, with cocaine accounting for a lower rate of hospitalisations each year (Table NHMD4). 

Around 1 in 8 (12% or 18,141) drug-related hospitalisations had a principal diagnosis related to amphetamines and other stimulants in 2023–24, of which 83% (15,067 hospitalisations) were for methamphetamine and 2.7% (493) were for MDMA/ecstasy. By comparison, 0.9% of all drug-related hospitalisations in the same year were for cocaine (1,322 hospitalisations) (tables NHMD3 and NHMD4). 

In 2023–24, among all drug-related hospitalisations:

• Most (69% or 12,542) hospitalisations for amphetamines and other stimulants (including methamphetamine and MDMA/ecstasy) involved an overnight stay, compared with just over 2 in 5 (42% or 561) for cocaine-related hospitalisations.
• Males accounted for over 3 in 5 (62% or 11,273) hospitalisations for amphetamines and other stimulants, and over 4 in 5 (81% or 1,077) cocaine-related hospitalisations.
• People aged 25–44 accounted for around 2 in 3 hospitalisations amphetamines and other stimulants (67% or 12,137), while people aged 15–34 accounted for around 2 in 3 hospitalisations for cocaine (65% or 857), and rates of hospitalisation were also highest among these age groups (tables NHMD1–NHMD3).

There was a large increase in hospitalisations for methamphetamine between 2022–23 (11,300 or 42.9 per 100,000 population) and 2023–24 (15,067 or 55.9 per 100,000 population). There were slight increases in hospitalisations for cocaine and MDMA/ecstasy over the same period. This followed previous declines in hospitalisations for all three drugs from 2019–20 (Table NHMD4) (Figure 3, Alcohol and other drug-related hospitalisations).

Deaths involving amphetamines and other stimulants

The rate of drug-induced deaths related to methamphetamine and other stimulants has increased rapidly in recent years. 

AIHW analysis of the National Mortality Database shows that the preliminary death rate for all psychostimulants (including amphetamines, methamphetamine, MDMA/ecstasy and caffeine) in 2024 was 2.7 per 100,000 population (714 deaths), 5 times as high as that in 2000 (0.5 per 100,000 population or 104 deaths) (Table NMD2). Over the same period, the rate of drug-induced deaths involving cocaine increased from 0.1 (27 deaths) to 0.5 (135 deaths) per 100,000 population (Table NMD2). Estimates for 2024 are expected to rise with standard revision processes.

Research examining methamphetamine-related deaths in isolation from other stimulants found that mortality rates almost doubled during a period of 7 years between 2009 and 2015. The most common manner of methamphetamine-related death was accidental drug toxicity, but natural disease (for example, coronary disease, stroke, kidney disease, and liver disease), suicide and accidents comprised more than half of the deaths (Darke et al. 2017).

Other harms

Mental health conditions are common among people who regularly use stimulants. Data from the EDRS show that nearly 3 in 5 (57%) people who regularly use illicit stimulants reported experiencing a mental health condition in the past 6 months in 2025 (Sutherland et al. 2025a). Among these people:

• depression (61%), anxiety (60%) and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; 32%) were the most commonly reported conditions 
• 57% had seen a mental health professional in the past 6 months (Sutherland et al. 2025a).

How many people receive treatment for amphetamine and other stimulant use?

Amphetamines

Of the 30,540 clients who received treatment for amphetamines as their principal drug of concern in 2023–24:

• around 3 in 5 (61%) were male
• almost 2 in 3 were aged either 30–39 (39% of clients) or 40–49 (25%)
• around 1 in 5 (21%) were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (AIHW 2025, tables SC.9–SC.11).

Additionally, of treatment episodes provided to clients for their own use of amphetamines as principal drug of concern in 2023–24:

• Almost 3 in 4 (74% or 42,596) were for people who had previously received AOD treatment since 2013–14 (AIHW 2025, Table SCR.28a).
• 1 in 4 (25% or 14,310) ended with an unplanned completion, the highest proportion out of all principal drug of concern categories (AIHW 2025, Table Drg.14).

MDMA/ecstasy

Of the 356 clients who received treatment for MDMA/ecstasy as their principal drug of concern in 2023–24:

• almost 3 in 4 (73%) were male
• 4 in 5 were aged either 10–19 (29% of clients) or 20–29 (51%)
• 7.0% were First Nations people (AIHW 2025, tables SC.9–SC.11).

The most common sources of referral for treatment episodes with MDMA/ecstasy as the principal drug of concern were diversion from the criminal justice system and self/family (29% of episodes each) (AIHW 2025, Table Drg.73).

Cocaine

Of the 1,858 clients who received treatment for cocaine as their principal drug of concern in 2023–24:

• over 4 in 5 (82%) were male 
• almost half (47%) were aged 20–29, and 31% were aged 30–39
• 6.8% were First Nations people (AIHW 2025, tables SC.9–SC.11).

The most common sources of referral for treatment episodes with cocaine as the principal drug of concern were self/family (37% of episodes) and diversion from the criminal justice system (21%) (AIHW 2025, Table Drg.82).

Where do I go for more information?

• Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System
• Methamphetamine and amphetamine in the NDSHS