In his early thirties, Angelo started experiencing what he thought was ‘telepathy’ after he’d been drinking.

Ben started drinking and smoking cannabis with friends as a teenager and when he was in his twenties his drinking increased.

Bill first tried alcohol at a young age when a family member offered him a drink. He started drinking fairly regularly in his teens.

In her late twenties Dawn started drinking heavily to help her relax and cope with stress.

Emma started drinking as a teenager and by her mid-twenties she says she had a ‘serious problem’ with alcohol.

Fozz began drinking in his early twenties at university and his consumption gradually increased.

George started drinking after his wife died and says he thinks he has an ‘alcohol habit’.

While working in a ‘high pressure’ job, Luke began drinking every day as a ‘release’ and a way to ‘block’ feelings of depression and anxiety

From his late teens into his twenties, Opal worked in industries where he says working hard and ‘drinking hard’ were ‘widely accepted’.

Phoenix grew up in a ‘violent home’ and describes his parents as ‘alcoholics’. In his mid-teens his parents separated and he left home and began drinking regularly.

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.

Anthony lives by himself in a rooming house in Sydney. He works casually in hospitality for several entertainment venues.

Arjun started drinking with friends when he was younger, and gradually over time his drinking became heavier.

Bryan has been drinking heavily for the last six to eight years, but at the time of the interview he hadn’t had any alcohol for three weeks.

Andrew started smoking cannabis daily in his late teens and in his twenties he started drinking alcohol heavily. He now describes his alcohol and cannabis consumption as ‘addictions’.

Anika has smoked cannabis on a regular basis since her mid-teens. She says she smokes to ‘chill out’, and ‘be more open…happy and content with life’.

In his early twenties, Artemis began smoking cannabis with his partner at the time and a few years later, after moving to Australia, he started taking drugs sometimes referred to as party drugs.

Callum began smoking cannabis in his mid-teens, which he says ‘was a sign of rebellion’ during a time when he ‘wasn’t happy with [his] life’.

Dee Jay started smoking cannabis daily in his early twenties while at university, and taking MDMA and cocaine on the weekends.

Dylan began drinking alcohol and smoking ‘yarndi’ (cannabis) with his friends in his early teens and continued to do so into his early twenties.

Jacob started smoking cannabis in his late teens when he was studying for a tertiary qualification as he found it helped him concentrate on his studies.

After about five years of regular cannabis consumption Jenna began to think she might be experiencing an ‘addiction’ to cannabis.

Jim began smoking cannabis in his late teens at parties with his friends. He says this bound his social circle together.

Lala began smoking cannabis in her mid-teens and has continued to do so since then.

When Louise first started smoking cannabis regularly, her parents encouraged her to seek alcohol and other drug counselling.

Lucy describes herself as having a ‘cannabis habit’ and a ‘mental dependency’ to cannabis.

Matthew has smoked cannabis ‘for the better part of thirty years’. He finds it helps him cope with depression, and gives him hope and motivation.

A few years before the interview, Max's father died and he started smoking cannabis every day to cope with the loss.

Nadia began smoking cannabis daily in her mid-teens. She says this helped her cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Pauline started smoking cannabis daily in her mid-teens and continued during her twenties while at university.

Sydalicious started smoking cannabis when she was in her late teens and has smoked it intermittently since then. She finds it helps her manage pain associated with injuries she sustained in a motorcycle accident.

In his early twenties, Ted began smoking cannabis daily, and then a few years later he started taking MDMA, cocaine and GHB regularly. He also took ice and ketamine occasionally.

Dylan started drinking heavily eight years ago when he was involved in a drug court program related to heroin use.

As a teenager growing up in the suburbs, Amy felt like she didn’t fit in with the young people in her neighbourhood.

Barry started drinking regularly and smoking cannabis in his early teens after a close family member died. In his early twenties, he began taking heroin and has continued to take it on and off since then, which he now describes as ‘an addiction’.

In his mid- to late teens Bobby began smoking cannabis and taking speed regularly with friends.

When David was in his mid-teens he first tried heroin with a cousin and then started taking it on his own.

Grace began taking heroin in her twenties and has taken it fairly regularly since then.

Harry has taken heroin fairly regularly for the past thirty years, organising his consumption around his work commitments.

When Helen was in her twenties, she ‘drifted into’ a ‘population of people’ who took heroin and began taking it herself.

Jack began taking heroin occasionally in his twenties and stopped in his early thirties after his doctor prescribed him morphine and Xanax® (alprazolam).

Josie first tried heroin in her early teens and has taken it fairly regularly since then, with long periods when she stopped taking it while pregnant.

Kate first tried drugs in her mid-teens, occasionally smoking cannabis, and taking LSD and speed with friends.

Misja found himself homeless in his pre-teenage years. He says he began taking ‘anything’ he could to ‘get high’ and in his early teens he started taking heroin regularly.

Ned began taking heroin in his late twenties, stopping after a few months when he felt he had developed a ‘habit’.

Nick first started taking heroin regularly after he was involved in a car accident.

When Peter was in his early twenties he tried a variety of drugs but avoided heroin. Then in his late twenties, he decided to try heroin and since then has taken it intermittently.

Rachel began taking heroin, cannabis and cocaine in her late teens, and says her consumption ‘escalated’ in her early twenties.

Sophie first tried cannabis as a pre-teen and after some time, she started smoking heroin through a bong. When she found she ‘wasn’t getting a kick anymore’ she started to inject it.

During periods of more frequent heroin use, Zadie says she developed ‘small dependencies’, feeling she needed it ‘to function’.

Dean began taking ice and GHB in his early twenties with sexual partners.

Ethan grew up in what he describes as a ‘very religious and restricted’ household. In his late teens he began a relationship and moved in with his boyfriend.

Eva first tried ice when she was a teenager with some friends, thinking it was speed.

In his late teens Jason started taking ecstasy and speed every few weeks with his friends and partner at the time.

When John was in his twenties, he started taking ice to enhance the experience of sex.

Melanie started taking ice in her early twenties and after a while she began to feel like her consumption had become ‘problematic’.

During her teens Renee smoked cannabis daily with her then partner. The relationship ended when she was in her early twenties and it was around this time that she began taking ecstasy and ice.

Scarlett first tried ice in her early twenties but didn’t take it again for a couple of years. Then she started taking it with her partner every couple of months.

Tiffany took ice regularly in her early twenties to help her manage full-time work and caregiving responsibilities for her children.

Zoe began taking ice occasionally in her late twenties and over the next year she says it became part of her daily routine.

After Jakub moved to Australia in his 50s and divorced from his first wife, he started drinking heavily. He was ‘bored’ and ‘lonely’.

Six months ago, John admitted himself to hospital and was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and ascites.

Michael started drinking heavily following the death of his mother and a subsequent cycling accident.

Throughout much of his thirties, Sean took heroin, ice and cocaine, typically with friends, sometimes in relationships, and also alone. His drug consumption changed when he began a new relationship in his late thirties.

Zac began taking party drugs in his thirties. When he felt that he was taking them ‘too often’, he sought counselling from a psychologist.

When she was in her early twenties, Annemarie experienced anxiety and panic attacks, and was prescribed benzodiazepines.

Rudy’s drinking has changed over time. At the time of the interview, he was drinking less and mostly limited his drinking to ‘social gatherings’.

When he was in his late teens Brad was prescribed a ‘very mild’ stimulant for ‘mood enhancement’. He soon began taking more than the prescribed dose.

Steve used to drink heavily but in recent years has been drinking less.

Wayne started drinking heavily in the mid-1980s as a way of relaxing when his children were young.