Adelaide ice capital of the world, according to UniSA wastewater study
Where is the capital of methamphetamine (ice) use? UniSA reveals the dirty secret in our wastewater.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Adelaide remains Australia’s meth capital according to wastewater testing but a dangerous new drug is on the rise
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
- Adelaide remains Australia’s meth capital, wastewater testing shows
Adelaide is the capital of methamphetamine (ice) use in an international study of drugs detected in wastewater, published today.
But the good news is national data shows meth use has peaked and fallen since the summer of 2017-18, giving Perth a chance to claim the title of meth capital next time around.
UniSA research associate Dr Richard Bade said that through sustained, targeted campaigns, the authorities have succeeded in reducing Adelaide’s rate of meth use by almost half since 2017.
The research published today in the journal Addiction provides extensive data on cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine (also known as ‘ice’) and MDMA (ecstasy) use in 120 cities around the world.
It reveals trends in drug use over time, with different countries showing clear preferences for one recreational drug over another.
Here methamphetamine (ice) is the stimulant of choice, with huge mass loads seen in both Australia and North America.
Adelaide usage was 10 times greater than that of the highest using European cities at the end of the study period, in 2017.
In contrast, MDMA (ecstasy) use is popular in The Netherlands and cities such as Helsinki, Oslo, Brussels and Barcelona.
Amphetamine loads were highest in Belgium, The Netherlands, and across northern Europe, including Swedish cities and Reykjavik in Iceland.
Cocaine levels were highest in London, Bristol, Amsterdam, Zurich, Geneva, St Gallen and Antwerp, with levels of between 600 and 900mg per 1000 people per day recorded.
As one of the lead authors of the research, Dr Bade said he felt “quite privileged” to be part of the team.
“Initially I came to this as a pure analytical chemist, thinking it would be interesting if we could see these drugs in wastewater,” he said.
“The fact is you can, and you can apply your analytical knowledge and give that to other people, health, forensics, police, so they can all use that data.”
Adelaide is known to have the highest rate of meth consumption of any capital city in Australia, courtesy of the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program.
But Dr Bade says meth use peaked in the summer of 2017-18 and has fallen since then, giving Perth a chance to claim the title of meth capital of Australia next time around.
“There was a peak of methamphetamine loads in late 2017/early 2018 of up to 1538mg (1.5g) a day per 1000 people,” he said.
“However, this dropped greatly since then, with April to June 2018 being the lowest over this time period.”
While SA meth use crept back up again towards the end of last year, the level was “nowhere near the highs of late 2017”.
“Metropolitan SA is now on par with metropolitan WA for methamphetamine consumption,” Dr Bade said.
UniSA, with the University of Queensland, undertakes data collection and analysis for the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. The latest report, the seventh in a series of nine, was released in April and covers the period up to the end of last year.
The research paper is available online.