Heroin and alcohol use soared during lockdown according to ACIC Wastewater Drug Monitoring program

Border shutdowns and Covid restrictions have brought party drugs to their knees according to new research, but heroin use has reached a record high in South Australia.

South Australians used more heroin during lockdown than at any time in the past five years according to new research released by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

The ACIC Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program analyses levels of narcotics and drugs in sewage at sites across rural and suburban South Australia.

The most recent report, which is released on Tuesday, shows that while methamphetamine use reduced towards the end of 2021 – South Australia remains the ice capital of Australia.

The report also showed that heroin use in Adelaide has reached the highest levels since testing began five years ago.

The results from the four testing sites across the city and suburbs show that per 1000 people, 100mg of the drug was being used a day.

The Covid-19 lockdown reduced the availability of other drugs, causing a steep rise in the price of some drugs as both national and international border closures affected the flow of illicit substances.

As a result, in South Australia, party drugs like MDA and MDMA reached their lowest use since testing begun and cocaine consumption also dropped across regional and suburban sites.

Nicotine use also decreased, but alcohol use increased over the testing period, though South Australia remains below the average alcohol consumption for other cities.

ACIC chief executive Michael Phelan APM said an estimated 15.7 tonnes of methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and heroin had been consumed nationally during the testing period.

“We saw the second lowest annual consumption of the four major drugs since our national

wastewater drug monitoring program began, yet the second highest spending by Australians over the same period,” he said.

“It is clear that Australians are prepared to pay top dollar to line the pockets of organised criminals, generating significant health and other harms to our community.”

The value of the four major drugs was an estimated $10.3bn, up from $8.9bn.

Mr Phelan said the increase in value despite the falling use shows a rise in prices caused by both law enforcement crackdowns and other factors.

“The restrictions put in place as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, severely constrained these markets,” he said.

“However, organised crime groups continued to find ways to supply illicit drug markets

during the pandemic and to generate significant illicit revenue through this activity.”

The report also shows that cannabis, ketamine and fentanyl use all reduced while oxycodone, an opioid similar to heroin, increased.