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:

• a website providing cannabis information to the community, users, their families and the various workforces involved in the delivery of cannabis related interventions
• a free Cannabis Information and Helpline - If you need to speak to someone about a cannabis-related issue you can call the Cannabis Information and Helpline on 1800 30 40 50. The Helpline will operate 2-11pm Sunday to Friday (including public holidays). After hours all calls will be directed to a message service as well as to Lifeline 13 11 14 as an alternative contact.
• regular e-Zines and a Bulletin Series on the latest cannabis research by NCPIC and its consortium partners, as well as latest findings internationally
• national free training on the delivery of motivational and brief interventions for cannabis-related problems among adolescents and adults
• a variety of projects to inform service delivery such as findings of studies on barriers and facilitators to cannabis treatment seeking and the development of exploration of new models of delivering interventions via telephone, web and post
• the development of course materials for cannabis and mental health assessment and intervention at Certificate 4 level, available as course units and on-line
• community activities to increase awareness of the harms associated with cannabis use such as school poster competitions, short film competitions, road safety messages, and partnerships with key organizations

NCPIC is a Department of Health and Ageing initiative.