Community-led responses to youth substance use in Australia: lessons learnt from the youth drug and alcohol symposium

Adolescence is a critical period of physiological, psychosocial and social development, during which young people begin to assert independence and make lifestyle choices that shape long-term health and education trajectories.1 It is also a stage of life where young people begin to experiment with alcohol and other drugs, with use escalating into young adulthood and declining later in life.2 Due to their high prevalence and associated harms, substance use and mental disorders are now the leading cause of disability among adolescents (aged 10–24 years) globally, accounting for one in every ten lost years of health.3 Early initiation of substance use is consistently associated with greater risk of dependence and poorer health, mental health, social and behavioural outcomes in adulthood.4 Thus, the prevention and early intervention of substance use in youth—before patterns of use become entrenched and impart significant health burden—is a key public health priority.