Ted began smoking cannabis daily while studying overseas. After moving to Australia in his early twenties, he began attending parties and taking MDMA, cocaine and GHB regularly. He also took ice and ketamine occasionally. Around this time, he says, his drug consumption became more ‘regular’....
When Scott was in his early twenties, he went drinking regularly with his friends. He also worked at a nightclub, which he says gave him many opportunities to drink. Soon he was drinking every day of the week....
A few years before the interview, Max's father died and he found it difficult to cope with the loss. Feeling depressed and anxious, he started smoking cannabis every day. He then sought medical help and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder. ...
Jim began smoking cannabis in his late teens with friends. Over the next few years his consumption increased and after his relationship with his girlfriend ended, he found he ‘wasn’t doing much else other than smoking’, and thought he’d developed a cannabis ‘habit’. ...
Dylan began drinking alcohol and smoking ‘yarndi’ (cannabis) with his friends in his early teens and continued to do so into his early twenties. After losing custody of his youngest child a year before the interview, he became isolated from his friends and family, and...
Dee Jay started smoking cannabis daily in his early twenties while at university, and taking MDMA and cocaine with friends on the weekends. After about a year, he started to think he was taking these drugs too often, and when he was caught with MDMA...
When David was in his mid-teens he first tried heroin with a cousin and then started taking it on his own. After about three years of regular consumption, he decided he no longer wanted to take heroin....
Ben started drinking and smoking cannabis as a teenager when hanging out with friends. In his early twenties, he began drinking more often as he experienced work stress, financial difficulties and increased responsibilities after becoming a parent....
When he was in his teens Artemis considered himself to be ‘anti-drugs’. In his early twenties he began smoking cannabis with his partner at the time. A few years later, after he moved to Australia, he started partying regularly with friends and taking 'party drugs'....