Nearly half of Australia’s heroin consumption occurred in Victoria

Victorians injected, snorted and swallowed thousands of kilograms of drugs in the past year, with the state again consuming the most heroin nationally.

Melbourne has held onto the unenviable crown of the nation’s heroin capital but the consumption of illegal party drugs in Victoria is the lowest in five years.

MDMA, MD, ice and oxycodone use plummeted between April and August 2021 — with the lowest consumption rate on record, according to the latest national wastewater drug monitoring program report.

Domestic production of cannabis ensured use of the drug soared, one of the few markets unaffected by Covid restrictions according to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

As debate rages about the location of a medically supervised injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD, the report reveals Victorians consumed 424kg of heroin across a year, which accounts for close to half of the nation’s figure.

A man and a woman openly injecting drugs at Southbank Boulevard earlier this month. Picture: Jason Edwards

But overall, Melburnians were markedly healthier — decreasing their booze, nicotine, cocaine, fentanyl and ketamine consumption in the four-month period.

ACIC estimates 15.7 tonnes of methylamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and heroin were consumed nationwide in the year commencing August 2020.

ACIC CEO Michael Phelan said the estimated street value of those four major drugs was $10.3 billion in 2021, up from $8.9 billion the previous year.

“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.”

Police cleaning up a used syringe off the ground in Abbotsford. Picture: Jason Edwards

Australia recorded a 23 per cent decrease in overall drug consumption year-on-year, the first recorded decrease in five years

“Covid-related border restrictions did not cause immediate major interruption to Australia’s drug markets, but wastewater data strongly indicates that the cumulative effect of these restrictions led to some substantial market interruptions,” Mr Phelan said.

“Restrictions put in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, severely constrained these markets.

“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.”

In the year, Victorians consumed 1080kg of cocaine, 2307kg of ice and 424kg of heroin.