This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Australians spent $9.3bn last year on cocaine, meth, MDMA and heroin, with cocaine and meth consumption rising from previous years.

Analysis of wastewater shows how much of each of the drugs is being consumed around the country, underlining the size of the black market.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission on Wednesday released its sixth national wastewater drug monitoring program report, which monitored 58 wastewater stations in July and August 2018.

It estimates more than 9.6 tonnes of methylamphetamine was consumed in Australia in the year to August 2018, along with four tonnes of cocaine, 1.1 tonnes of MDMA, and more than 700kg of heroin.

Fentanyl use surges in Australia, drug monitoring program finds Read more

“It is astounding that Australians waste over $9.3bn a year on drugs,” the commission chief executive, Michael Phelan, said on Wednesday. “This is money people could be spending on legitimate goods for themselves and their families.”

The report also looked at cannabis consumption, which regional Australia uses at double the rate of city dwellers.

In the second year of the testing program, the commission found cocaine and meth consumption were up, but MDMA and heroin were down.

Phelan said a drop in fentanyl use across regional areas was a positive sign.

The report covers 56% of the population, which equates to about 13 million people. The tests look for 13 substances, including nicotine, alcohol and opioids.

The Northern Territory reported the highest average cannabis consumption in regional Australia, as well as the highest MDMA consumption of capital cities. It also recorded the highest nicotine and alcohol consumption across both capital cities and regional sites.

New South Wales and Victoria continued to be the capitals for cocaine and heroin respectively, while the Australian Capital Territory returned the second highest average capital city consumption of opioids such as heroin, fentanyl and oxycodone.

Using wastewater data from between August 2017 and August 2018, the commission estimates that more than 9.6 tonnes of methylamphetamine is consumed in Australia each year, as well as more than four tonnes of cocaine, 1.1 tonnes of MDMA, and more than 700kg of heroin.

The quantity represents a street value of about $9.3bn, which the commission said underlines “the size of the black economy that relates to illicit drugs alone”.

Wednesday’s release marks the first time cannabis had been included in the wastewater study, revealing that regional areas consume on average more than their capital city counterparts.

Phelan said it provided “further insight into one of the largest illicit drug markets in Australia”.

“On a national level, of the drugs measured by the program with available dose data, alcohol and nicotine remain the highest-consumed substances,” he said.

“As the program continues to build long-term drug consumption data, fluctuations in consumption are evident. Understanding local drug consumption patterns assists law enforcement, policy, regulatory and health agencies develop targeted supply, demand and harm-reduction strategies.”



