Two suburbs emerge as Gold Coast drug hot spots, but their substance of choice differs entirely, lawyers say

Two Gold Coast suburbs have emerged as drug hot spots but while just kilometres apart the substance of choice and its clientele couldn’t be more different. SEE THE LIST OF WORST SUBURBS

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TWO Gold Coast suburbs have emerged as drug hot spots but while just kilometres apart the substance of choice and its clientele could not be more different, a criminal lawyer says.

Analysis of Queensland Police Service data has identified the Glitter Strip’s worst suburbs for drug crime.

Surfers Paradise, which is one of Australian’s most iconic tourist destination and party strips, topped the list for drug crime in the year to September 28, with 1075 offences.

Southport – less than five kilometres down the road – came in second with 888 drug offences, while Labrador, Broadbeach and Nerang also recorded more than 300 drug crimes each in the same period.

Detective Superintendent Brendan Smith during a media conference on the Gold Coast. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Gold Coast Police Detective Superintendent Brendan Smith said the fact Surfers Paradise was a tourist hotspot – where interactions with police weren’t uncommon – and Southport a support service hub explained the high drug figures.

“The figures can also be seen as a positive. Because that’s a proactive measure. Drug crime is not something that is reported, so we’re actively out there targeting offending behaviour and the drug offences are a consequence of that,” he said.

Hannay Lawyers solicitor Lee Quinn said the two suburbs had different demographics and substance choices.

“I guess with Surfers you have the more transient and younger population with the nightclubs which is likely to attract drugs,” he said.

Mr Quinn said that meant the drug of choice in that area was often the more expensive ones – such as cocaine.

“In Southport you see a high population of people on Centrelink and limited incomes and also homeless,” he said.

“They are more likely to be meth(amphetamines) or cannabis.”

Cocaine is more prevalent on Gold Coast streets, police say. Picture: iStock

Supt Smith said COVID-19 had impacted the city’s drug scene.

Traditionally, MDMA was commonplace, but during the pandemic it had noticeably decreased, while cocaine was on the rise.

He said GHB was also more prevalent – as revealed recently – but ice was becoming more difficult to source perhaps due to the country’s border being closed.

One lawyer said a majority of drug dealers they acted for lived in the Surfers Paradise area which could be why the number of drug offences were so high in the city.

Howden Saggers Lawyers associate Bettina Webb said that homelessness was a contributing factor to why drug offences were so prevalent in Southport.

“Surfers Paradise has the nightclubs which have a lot of drugs associated with that,” she said.

Ms Webb said a lot of drug offences in suburban areas such as Coomera or Pimpama could be attributed to juveniles and teenagers smoking cannabis.

She said drug prices had increased during the COVID-19 pandemic meaning fewer drug offences were occurring.

If you have any information about drug crime on the Gold Coast contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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