A cross-sectional survey of young people attending a music festival: associations between drug use and musical preference

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Drug use is becoming normalised among young Australian people involved in music sub-cultures. We aimed to determine prevalences of illicit drug use in this population and associations between preferences for different music genres and recent use of particular illicit drugs. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire of young people (aged 16-29 years) attending a music festival. RESULTS: Of 939 respondents, 46% had used illicit drugs (principally cannabis) in the past month, a significantly higher proportion than among respondents to the 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (18%). Participants who favoured dance/house or rap music were more likely to ha..