The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has the best precis…
Australia’s consumption of illicit drugs including methamphetamine and cocaine has risen while alcohol intake continues to decline, according to new wastewater analysis.
More than 10.5 tonnes of methamphetamine was consumed in the year to August 2023, up 17 per cent from the year before.
Meanwhile, Australians consumed a little more than 4 tonnes of cocaine in the same period, up 19 per cent from the previous year.
These insights come from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, which estimates drug consumption by measuring 12 different substances — both legal and illegal — in wastewater samples.
Its latest report is based on data from 62 wastewater treatment plants and covers more than half of Australia’s population.
Here’s what it reveals — and doesn’t reveal — about Australia’s drug use.
Cocaine, meth and MDMA use rise
Australians consumed more than 30 tonnes of illicit substances in the last reported year, ACIC’s report found – that’s equivalent to about five Olympic swimming pools.
Cannabis was the most popular illegal drug, with an estimated 13.6 tonnes of THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, consumed in the year to August 2023.
Methamphetamine was the second-most consumed illicit drug in terms of quantity but a different report showed the percentage of Australians who used it was relatively small.
Just one in 100 Australians said they had used meth in the past 12 months, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) 2022-2023 National Drug Strategy Household Survey found.
For comparison, more than one in 10 Australians said they had used cannabis recently.
Heroin was the only illicit drug ACIC measured where consumption went down, with the quantity consumed decreasing by 7 per cent, the report said.
ACIC’s report also found regional Australians were more likely to use methamphetamine and MDMA, while cocaine and heroin were more likely to be consumed in capital cities.
Australians spent more than $10 billion on meth: ACIC
All up the methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, heroin and cannabis consumed in Australia had an estimated street value of $12.7 billion, according to the report.
Methamphetamine accounted for most of that amount, with ACIC putting an estimated $10.58 billion price tag on what was consumed in the last year.
Shane Neilson, the principal drugs advisor at ACIC, said it was “sobering” to see the size of the illicit substances market in Australia.
“That is a lot of illicit drugs consumed despite premium prices,” he told the ABC.
“And so at a time when many households are struggling with cost-of-living pressures … that’s money that is really only lining the pockets of cynical, organised crime groups. It’s doing no benefit to society whatsoever.”
And while cocaine is commonly believed to be the most expensive drug, ACIC says their data indicates otherwise.
“Our data shows that in fact, on the street, crystal methylamphetamine or ice is more expensive than cocaine. And that’s a large part of the reason why the value of the meth market is so much more than cocaine,” Mr Neilson explained.
Why is consumption increasing during a cost-of-living crisis?
What ACIC’s data reflects is a slow return to the drug market activity that existed before COVID-19, rather than a random increase in consumption.
The pandemic impacted the supply and distribution of many substances, as well as reducing the number of gatherings where people might take “party drugs” like MDMA or cocaine.
This meant there were far fewer illicit drugs consumed during COVID-19.
“The general view is that things have returned to baseline across the board, post-COVID,” said Michael Farrell, the director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.
“And if we look at the [AIHW] household survey, in terms of illicit drugs, we’ve seen generally a pretty stable pattern except for cocaine.”
Experts also said while ACIC’s report provided a useful look at the drugs market, it did not shed light on how many people were using or how much individuals used.
“It could be a large number of people using just a little bit of the drug, or it could be a small number of people using a lot of the drug,” said Stephanie Kershaw, a research fellow at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use.
Simon Lenton, the director of the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, said it was important to look at other data, such as the AIHW survey, when drawing conclusions about Australia’s drug use.
“These changes [in the ACIC report] are important for us to recognise that there’s been an increase since the downturn of COVID, but not for us to be sensationalising it or panicked about it,” he said.
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