Wastewater report shows Canberrans among largest users of opioids

The nineteenth wastewater drug monitoring program conducted by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission found cannabis was the most used illicit drug in Australia while alcohol and nicotine have consistently ranked as the highest drugs in all states and territories.

The report revealed higher consumption of alcohol, nicotine, oxycodone, fentanyl and cannabis in regional areas compared to capital cities.

People in capital cities consumed more methylamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, MDA, heroin and ketamine than regional sites.

Australians were the sixth largest consumers of illicit stimulants out of 28 countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Oceania monitored between March and May 2022.

Australia had the third highest methylamphetamine consumption per capita out of 24 other countries and ranked sixth out of 16 countries for cannabis use, but had relatively low consumption of other drugs compared to other countries.

The commission's acting chief executive Matt Rippon said the wastewater analysis provided crucial information on drug markets and serious and organised criminal activity to support intelligence, law enforcement and government.

"Despite large seizures of some illicit drugs by law enforcement, the average consumption of methylamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, MDA, fentanyl and ketamine has increased in both capital city and regional sites," Mr Rippon said.

"The sole beneficiaries of this increased consumption are serious and organised crime groups which make significant profits from their illegal activities."

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While ACT residents were the second highest consumers of oxycodone, consumption at a national level has reached a plateau at historically low levels.

The average consumption of oxycodone is two times higher in regional parts of the country than in capital cities.

The report also showed cocaine consumption has increased from August 2022 to December 2022 in the capital cities, while regional areas have also shown a slight increase.

The national average consumption of cocaine in capital cities was found to be more than doubled than regional areas.

Cocaine use in ACT was estimated to be four doses per 1000 people per day in February this year. Consumption of the drug peaked during the first COVID wave in October 2020 at 10 doses per 1000 per day.

The ACT is the only region that had nicotine consumption below the national average at all testing sites

Residents of the ACT were also among the lowest consumers of methylamphetamine, despite an increase in the average consumption of the drug across both capital cities and regional sites.

Heroin consumption was three times higher in capital cities than in regional Australia and was the fourth most-used illicit drug.

This round of the program was the first to provide a comparison between cannabis use levels with other major illicit drugs.

The report was based on data collected from December 2022 which covers around 55 per cent of the populations from capital cities and regional sites, and February 2023 which covers 48 per cent of populations in the capital cities only.

The report measured the presence of 12 substances including methylamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, MDA, heroin, cannabis, oxycodone, fentanyl, nicotine, alcohol and ketamine.

A total of 57 sites participated in the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, including 20 in the capital cities. One site from Canberra participated in the program in December 2022 and February 2023.

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