Australians are known to love a beer, but a new survey has found we drank more than anywhere else in the world during COVID.
On average, Australians reported getting drunk 27 times in 2020, compared with the global average of 15 times.
But Australians regretted getting drunk on 24 per cent of occasions, with women more likely to regret getting drunk than men.
The Global Drug Survey 2021 drew on responses from over 32,000 people from 22 countries, with the Australian arm led by RMIT University’s Dr Monica Barratt.
Dr Barratt said while some parts of Australia experienced extended lockdowns in 2020, most of the country was relatively unaffected by the pandemic compared with European and American nations.
“This may have something to do with us being the highest ranked country for frequency of getting drunk,” she said.
“Although we can also see drinking cultures play a role, with Nordic, British and North American nations also reporting relative high frequencies of drunken episodes.”
With about a quarter of drunken episodes resulting in regret, the data suggest drinking too much too quickly, mixing drinks and being with people who engage in heavy drinking are things to avoid.
Globally, the use rates of most illegal drugs decreased in the last 12 months, during the pandemic and associated restrictions.
Even among those who continued to use illegal drugs during the pandemic, the rates of seeking emergency medical treatment fell.
For example, 1 per cent of people who used MDMA before the pandemic sought emergency treatment but this reduced by half to 0.5 per cent during the pandemic.
But for new or novel synthetic drugs and methamphetamine, rates of seeking emergency treatment rose over this time.
Use of drugs in public and monitored settings, like bars, clubs and festivals, was less prevalent in 2020.
“Using while home alone is a risk factor for overdose and may have contributed to elevated rates for some drug types.”
