METHYLAMPHETAMINE use is increasing in regional areas, with Australia having the highest consumption of the drug out of 25 Sewage Core Group Europe (SCORE) countries according to a recent report from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).
ACIC’s Report 16 of the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program (NWDMP or the Program) was released last Thursday and provided data relating to selected substances of concern, showing differences in consumption levels between capital cities and regional centres, collected from sites in December 2021, and capital cities in February 2022.
To protect the integrity of the program, the exact locations of wastewater analysis sites are not able to be publicly released by the ACIC and to maintain the confidentiality of the participating site, each site is allocated a unique code to de-identify results.
The report focused on 12 licit and illicit drugs - nicotine, alcohol, methylamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, MDA, oxycodone, fentanyl, heroin, cannabis, and ketamine, and covered a population of 13 million Australians.
The NWDMP data revealed the average consumption of alcohol, nicotine, MDA, oxycodone, fentanyl, and cannabis in regional areas exceeded that of capital cities.
According to the figures, in December 2021 approximately 1300 standard drinks of alcohol were consumed per day per 1000 people in regional areas, which was higher than the 1150 standard drinks per day per 1000 people consumed in capital cities.
In December 2021, per capita capital city consumption of methylamphetamine, cocaine, and MDMA all exceeded regional consumption for the first time since April 2017.
As seen with methylamphetamine, the use of cocaine, MDMA, and MDA also increased in both capital city and regional sites, while cannabis and heroin use decreased for both areas.
Overall, regional Victoria was among the highest consumers of oxycodone nationally, with its consumption of heroin also well above the regional average.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said local police were targeting the issue of drug use and trafficking within the south-west region and had completed two successful large scale drug operations in recent times - Operation Patriot and Operation Pink Lady.
The spokesperson said local police acknowledged the presence of organised crime entering regional areas and were “taking a stand” to protect the community.
ACIC chief executive, Michael Phelan APM, said illicit drugs were the cause of a significant amount of organised crime experienced by Australians, with the NWDMP data providing an insight into these figures for both regional and capital city areas.
“Serious and organised crime groups profit from the importation, manufacture, trafficking and sale of drugs that cause harm to the community,” he said.
“Through wastewater analysis, we gain insight into the serious and organised crime groups that supply illicit drug markets.
“Regular and near-real-time wastewater reporting enables the ACIC and our partners to detect and respond to increasing drug threats in a timely way and monitor the impact of responses.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic saw changes to the drug market, Mr Phelan said as the country returned back to normal there were signs of increased consumption.
“Organised crime groups have redoubled their efforts to supply the major illicit drug markets as COVID-19 restrictions eased, generating significant illicit revenue, but they continue to face challenges, not least from law enforcement agencies,” he said.
“Our report helps address harmful drug consumption through improving knowledge about these influences so that tailored supply, demand and harm reduction efforts can be developed and implemented by decision makers on a range of drug and public health issues.”
Australia also ranked fifth out of 27 SCORE Countries for MDMA consumption and ranked sixth out of 16 SCORE Countries for cannabis use.
Over the life of the Program, consumption of most drugs has generally been higher per capita in regional sites, with the exception being cocaine and heroin, where consumption is generally higher in the cities.
Both these drugs are distinguished from the other illicit drug markets because they are exclusively imported, meaning there is no domestic production of the drugs.
For free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drug treatment services, call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015 or access free 24/7 drug and alcohol counselling online through the Turning Point website.
ACIC’s annual National Wastewater Drug Monitoring can be viewed at acic.gov.au/publications/national-wastewater-drug-monitoring-program-reports/report-16-national-wastewater-drug-monitoring-program
