Every year, about 20,000 Australians die from diseases caused by smoking.

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre estimates 6.5 per cent of Australians over the age of 18 have an alcohol use disorder while 2.9 per cent of all Australian deaths are alcohol-related.

While the abuse of pharmaceuticals is largely hidden, the Australian Drug Foundation says that an astounding 185 million prescriptions were dispensed in 1998. That is, an average of 10 prescriptions for each man, woman and child in the country.

Details on consumption of the following is understandably more difficult to quantify:

cannabis, cocaine, nicotine, amphetamine, GHB, betel nut, ketamine, khat, kratom, barbiturate, benzodiazepine, opioids