Since the British colonisation of Australia in 1788, alcohol has become the most widely used psychoactive substance. Heavy drinking has become an established cultural norm, with alcohol consumed for relief of stress or grief, for relaxation and enjoyment, and for socialising (Lewis, 1992). However the harmful use of alcohol among Australians impacts not only physical and psychological health but also contributes to social harms including interpersonal violence and homicide, child abuse and neglect, and suicide and self-harm (Begg et al., 2007). Prior to European contact, aborigines only exposure to psychoactive substances were indigenous tobaccos and the drug pituri made from naturally occurring flora, and stupefying beverages such as the sap
