Cocaine and MDMA use spiked in the capital over summer, but then dropped off again as Canberrans returned to work, analysis of the city's wastewater reveals.
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Canberrans returned the highest levels of MDMA use in the country during the Christmas party season.
The report showed that Canberrans averaged about seven doses of MDMA per 1000 people a day in December.
The figure then dropped drastically, down to slightly less than one dose per day in February, and was more than triple the two doses per day detected in August.
Cocaine use also spiked in the warmer months. Canberra recorded the second highest levels in the country, only behind NSW, during the silly season.
The report showed that Canberrans average about three doses of cocaine per 1000 people per day in August.
But that figure climbed to five doses per day in December, only to then drop off again to a little over four doses in February.
The ACT showed higher levels of oxycodone than other capital cities, although was dwarfed by regional areas around the country.
The findings are set out in the latest instalment of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission's National Wastewater Analysis Drug Monitoring Program, published on Thursday.
The report is the second published as part of a $3.6 million three-year program, which tests 13 drugs in 50 waste water sites, including one in the ACT.
Thirty-seven wastewater treatment plants across the country participated in the collection of wastewater samples late last year and earlier this year for the latest report.
The study detected methylamphetamine (ice), amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), MDA, tobacco, alcohol, oxycodone, fentanyl, and four new psychoactive substances.
While alcohol and tobacco were the most consumed drugs in every region, methylamphetamine remained the highest consumed illicit drug across all regions of Australia.
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission chief executive Chris Dawson said the new reported showed a slight reduction in the level of methylamphetamine used nationally over the period covered by this report.
Although, he said it was too early to say whether the result was part of a longer term trend.
"Australia's strong economic conditions and the high price that Australians will pay for illicit drugs make our country an attractive market for organised crime and motivated individuals," Mr Dawson said.
"The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission is committed to working with its partners to understand Australia's drug market, disrupt criminal activity, and reduce the supply and demand of illicit drugs in this country."
Mr Dawson said the program would now start testing for the use of heroin and MDA for the third report, to be published in November.
Findings from the program could help shape responses to the demand and supply of the drug market, particularly in high-use areas.
"We are committed to providing a strong evidence base to inform policy and operational decisions and will continue working with our partners to connect, discover, understand and respond to the threat and harm caused by illicit drug activity," Mr Dawson said.
"I am pleased that partner agencies from across the country are approaching us for assistance and advice as they shape their local responses to the harms caused by drugs — wastewater analysis leaves us ideally placed to provide credible contemporary advice on drug trends."
