New report into Australia's drug habits finds we're a 'stimulant nation'

Australia has been labelled the "stimulant nation" after a new wastewater report found methylamphetamine, cocaine, and nicotine use is on the rise.

Transcript

00:00This was the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Report and what it did was test wastewater

00:06samples at sites across Australia in both capital cities and in regional areas.

00:11And what it showed is that cannabis is still the most widely consumed illicit drug in Australia.

00:17But the rate of that use is falling and cocaine is at record high increases in both capital

00:23cities and regional areas.

00:25There's also been record increases in the use of methyl amphetamine in capital cities

00:30generally but also in regional areas and nicotine especially in regional areas.

00:35And that divide is really interesting.

00:37There is a distinction between the drugs of choice in metropolitan areas versus those

00:42rural areas.

00:43So in metro areas in Australia the predominance is for cocaine, MDMA and even ketamine where

00:50in the regional areas the use of methyl amphetamine really is the most widely used drug.

00:56In fact across all regional areas it was the most widely used drug which shows that that

01:02drug really does still have a grip on regional and small communities across this country.

01:07So this report looked at Australia's position compared to 34 other countries that undertake

01:11similar testing.

01:13And what it found was that Australia is fourth overall for illicit drug use which is a pretty

01:18concerning trend.

01:20Now Australia is second when it comes to methyl amphetamine use, second only to the United

01:25States and third for cannabis use behind the Netherlands and Spain.

01:29So a very alarming and interesting look at drug use across Australia.

01:33And law enforcement agencies and health authorities use this kind of data to help them see the

01:40trends emerging in drug use and see how they can best tailor harm minimisation and policing

01:46strategies to fit that.

01:50For more UN videos visit www.un.org