The latest analysis of Australia’s wastewater shows we're still a stimulant nation, with record high use of a raft of illegal drugs seen across the country.
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00:00The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has been reporting on Australia's drug consumption
00:06since 2016.
00:08It does that by taking samples from dozens of wastewater treatment plants across the
00:13country.
00:14Its latest report, drawn from samples taken in December last year, shows cannabis is still
00:20Australia's most used drug, but consumption has decreased.
00:24When it comes to stimulants, the opposite is true.
00:28In capital cities, cocaine use hit a record high.
00:32So did consumption of methamphetamine.
00:34MDMA use is up, and so is ketamine consumption, while heroin use remained steady.
00:42So how does the nation's capital compare?
00:44Here, cannabis use is also on a downward trend.
00:48Cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and heroin have all seen a spike.
00:53As for ketamine, it's stayed relatively stable.
00:57The Territory Government decriminalised cannabis use in 2020, and last October did the same
01:03for other illicit drugs.
01:05It might seem tempting to make a correlation and assume more Canberrans are now opting
01:10for stimulants over cannabis, but the Commission says it's too early to make that link.
01:16And Canberra's pill-testing lead, Dr David Caldicott, warns the Commission's findings
01:21aren't conclusive proof that more cocaine is being used here.
01:26He says it's likely a case of quality rather than quantity.
01:31We're not seeing a spike in consumption.
01:33We are seeing a bit of a trend upwards in the purity of the drug being consumed.
01:38Highly pure cocaine is quite a dangerous product, and we are likely to see more problems associated
01:45with that if that is a trend that continues.
01:48Another important point is that the data doesn't tell us whether a small number of Canberrans
01:53are consuming a large amount of drugs, or a large cohort is using a small amount, or
01:59something in between.
02:00To get the full picture, hospital presentations and the findings from Canberra's pill-testing
02:05site also need to factor in.