Tests find record drug use among Australians

Wastewater tests have found Australians are taking cocaine and methamphetamine in record amounts.

Transcript

00:00The National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Report gives a snapshot of drug trends across Australia.

00:08And what it's found is that cannabis remains the most widely used drug in Australia, but

00:14its use is falling.

00:16Now there were record increases in the use of cocaine in capital cities and regional

00:21areas.

00:23There were also record increases in the use of methyl amphetamine in capital cities and

00:28nicotine in regional areas.

00:30And the report also showed a significant divide between drug use patterns in Australia's

00:36metropolitan areas and regional areas.

00:39In the metropolitan areas, cocaine and MDMA use were much more prevalent, while in regional

00:45areas methyl amphetamine was the drug of choice.

00:49In fact, in all areas surveyed bar one, methyl amphetamine use was up in regional areas,

00:55showing that the drug still has a grip on many rural and regional communities.

01:01And if you look at a map of Australia, you can see that Sydney was the highest for cocaine

01:07use, while the highest rates of methyl amphetamine were seen in regional parts of Queensland,

01:13South Australia and Western Australia.

01:16The report also compares Australia to 34 countries around the world, and Australia ranked fourth

01:23per capita for illicit drug use.

01:26Australians have the second highest per capita use of methyl amphetamine behind the United

01:31States, and we were third for cannabis use behind the Netherlands and Spain.

01:37Now this report surveyed 56 wastewater sites across metropolitan and regional Australia,

01:44an area covering around 14 million people, or just over half the population.

01:50And what it does is provides a valuable snapshot of drug use patterns and trends across the

01:56country, which helps inform law enforcement and harm minimisation strategies for states

02:02and territories.