The National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC) was established in response to community concerns about cannabis use.
In 2007, cannabis was the most commonly used illicit drug in Australia - one in three (33.5%, 5.8 million) Australians aged 14 years and older had used it in their lifetime. Of the same Australians, almost one in ten (9.1%, 1.6 million) had used it in the last year.
Australians aged 20-29 years were the most likely to have used cannabis in the previous 12 months - one in five (20.8%, 0.6 million) had done so. One quarter (25.7%, 0.4 million) of males in this group had used the drug in the previous 12 months.
There are a range of health and social harms associated with cannabis use. In recent times there has also been a marked increase in presentations to specialist alcohol and other drug treatment services for problems associated with use of the drug. According to the National Minimum Data Set of clients of specialised alcohol and other drug treatment services (2005-2006), alcohol is the most common principal drug of concern reported in closed treatment episodes (39%), with cannabis being the most commonly reported illicit drug (25% of cases).
The NCPIC mission is to reduce the use of cannabis in Australia by preventing uptake and providing the community with evidence-based information and interventions.
It aims to achieve this by offering services to a range of target audiences. These include:
NCPIC is a Department of Health and Ageing initiative.