The second Wastewater Drug Monitoring Report for 2017 has been released and, while Adelaide has tipped Perth as the capital city with the most methamphetamine abuse, the statistics remain dire throughout WA, especially in regional areas.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) released the report Thursday morning, showing once again methylamphetamine – commonly called methamphetamine, ‘meth’ or ‘ice’ – remains the highest-consumed illicit drug across the country.
The statistics for regional WA are particularly serious, in line with the records from earlier this year, showing test sites in regional WA only being topped by rural Queensland for per-capita methamphetamine consumption.
Regional and rural WA also continues to score high in consumption of tobacco and alcohol, with three of the regional treatment plants tested showing alcohol consumption well above the national average.
The results generally showed while there has been a slight decrease in methamphetamine use across the board in WA, yet specific sites continue to show dramatically high usage rates.
The West Australian test sites – three metropolitan and three regional test sites – are coded to retain their anonymity.
Minister for Justice Michael Keenan said the decline in ice use was a good sign, but that much more work had to be done.
“This is a step in the right direction that serves as an encouraging indication that our law enforcement and health responses are having a positive impact,” Mr Keenan said.
“However, we must also be cautious in our optimism; a massive challenge remains ahead of us.”
The report also showed particular increases in two other drugs: cocaine, especially in metro New South Wales, and oxycodone in South Australia and the ACT, an opoid which has been linked to mass addiction in the United States.
South Australia and the ACT had the highest oxycodone use in capital cities, while regional use in parts of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria was above the national average.
Mr Keenan said the results would give law enforcement better knowledge in tackling the creation and distribution of illicit drugs.
“The data will also ensure we can continue to monitor the progress of our law enforcement and health responses and fine-tune them accordingly,” he said.
“The second National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program Report tested for ice and 12 other illicit and licit drugs at 37 sites across the country, capturing data on about 51 per cent of Australia’s population.
“The results provide us with the second of nine national snapshots to be covertly conducted over the next three years that will tell us what drugs are being used and where.”
The full National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program Report 2 is available now through ACIC’s website.
