Australia finds record meth, cocaine, heroin use in wastewater analysis

There has been a sharp rise in drug use among Australians, with cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin consumption all hitting record levels, according to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s (ACIC) latest wastewater analysis.

Published on Friday, the ACIC’s annual report revealed that Australians consumed an estimated 22.2 tonnes of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA (commonly known as “ecstasy”) between August 2023 and August 2024.

This represents a 34 percent increase on the previous year’s findings, with marked increases in the consumption of cocaine (69 percent), MDMA (49 percent), methamphetamine (21 percent), and heroin (14 percent).

The drugs had a combined estimated street value of 11.5 billion Australian dollars (about $7.5bn), according to the ACIC. Meth alone accounted for 8.9 billion Australian dollars (about $5.8bn) – or 78 percent – of that total.

Wastewater analysis, the process of testing sewage water for contaminants, is a widely used tool to measure drug use within national populations. The data was collected from Australia’s capital cities and regional sites, covering some 57 percent of the country.

The increase in drug consumption reflects the “recovery of these illicit drug markets following the impact of COVID-19 restrictions”, the ACIC report said.

It added that “transnational and domestic serious and organised crime groups have rapidly re-established and expanded their operations” following the pandemic.

ACIC chief Heather Cook said crime groups are exploiting high demand for illicit drugs in Australia, where they are “maximising profit at the expense of the community’s security and wellbeing”.

“The 2.2 tonne increase in national meth consumption is concerning because 12.8 tonnes is the highest annual level recorded by the programme and the drug causes significant community harm,” she said.

“Similarly, there has been a large increase in national cocaine consumption, also to the highest annual level recorded by our wastewater programme,” Cook added.

Wastewater was also tested for alcohol and nicotine – which remained the most consumed lawful drugs – as well as cannabis and ketamine.

Cannabis remained the most consumed illicit drug among Australians, with higher average consumption in regional areas than in capital cities. Capital cities, however, recorded higher consumption of cocaine, MDMA, heroin and ketamine.

The Northern Territory saw the highest increase in meth, cocaine and MDMA consumption, according to the report, while Tasmania recorded the highest increase in heroin.

The increases in meth, cocaine and MDMA consumption are likely to continue up to 2027, according to ACIC data modelling.