Substance use epidemiology, alcohol risk guidelines and harm reduction
What the NHMRC alcohol guidelines say and the evidence behind the numbers, how to count standard drinks, Australian prevalence data for alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs, and the harm reduction framework with its evidence, including needle and syringe programmes, take-home naloxone and opioid agonist treatment.
Tier 1Medical sciences concept
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- The NHMRC guidelines (2020) set 10 standard drinks a week and 4 in a day for healthy adults, none under 18 and none in pregnancy. The numbers are risk-based, not a safe threshold.
- A standard drink is 10 g of ethanol. Exam stems give volumes and percentages and expect you to count.
- The AIHW National Drug Strategy Household Survey supplies the prevalence figures. The 2022-23 round shows falling tobacco smoking, rising e-cigarette use and rising illicit drug use.
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Sources
- Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcoholAU/NZNational Health and Medical Research Council, 2020
- National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022-2023AU/NZAustralian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024
- National Drug Strategy 2017-2026AU/NZAustralian Government Department of Health, 2017
- Return on investment 2: evaluating the cost-effectiveness of needle and syringe programs in AustraliaAU/NZAustralian Government Department of Health (Wilson et al.), 2009
- Vapes: information for pharmacistsAU/NZTherapeutic Goods Administration, 2024
- Mortality risk during and after opioid substitution treatment: systematic review and meta-analysisBMJ (Sordo et al., 2017;357:j1550), 2017
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
What changed
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