An annual survey of drug users across Australia has found illicit substances like ecstasy and cocaine are becoming more accessible.
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00:00The latest survey from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre revealed several trends
00:06this year.
00:07One of the biggest being participants reporting perceived easier access to some drugs, including
00:12ecstasy and cocaine.
00:14The survey, which used a national sample of 740 people, also found that non-prescribed
00:18use of legal drugs for ADHD was also seen to be increasing.
00:23Non-prescribed ketamine use remained stable, with just over half of participants reporting
00:27recent use, but that also represented the highest rate of use recorded since monitoring
00:32began.
00:33And cocaine use remained high, with 80% of the sample reporting past six-month use.
00:38The survey also found that almost two-thirds of participants said they had heard of naloxone,
00:43a life-saving opioid overdose reversal agent.
00:46However, only 6% of participants reported actually obtaining naloxone in the past year.
00:52The research centre says given substances such as cocaine and ketamine have recently
00:56been found to contain opioids and in some cases have contributed to severe overdoses,
01:02there is a need to continue increasing awareness around naloxone and its uptake.
01:06The release of this report follows NSW police just this week arresting six men over a major
01:12criminal network which was allegedly involved in the distribution of 1.2 tonnes of cocaine
01:17across Sydney over a four-month period, which police said equates to about six million separate
01:23drug deals.