Wastewater monitoring: Study allows cops to know you’re using cocaine

A new study has found Sydney is the cocaine capital of Australia. Here’s how they know how much Sydneysiders are using.

A new report has discovered disturbing trends about Australians’ drug use.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission findings reveal Sydney remains the leader in the nation’s cocaine usage.

“Cocaine consumption in Australia remains mostly centred in New South Wales, particularly the capital city catchments,” the ninth National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program report notes.

The annual sewage testing program monitors the waste of 57 per cent of Australians and has found that along with drinking alcohol and using tobacco, methylamphetamine (ice) is the most consumed illicit drug in Australia.

However, in capital cities, the amount of cocaine and heroin consumed per capita exceeds that consumed in regional areas.

In regional areas people were using more nicotine, alcohol, methylamphetamine, MDMA, MDA, oxycodone, fentanyl and cannabis than they were in capital cities.

People in capital cities consume cocaine and heroine on average more than those in regional areas.

A snapshot of the findings from ACIC's ninth wastewater drug monitoring program.

The findings estimate Australians consumed multiple tonnes of drugs over the past year.

This included 11.5 tonnes of methylamphetamine, 4.6 tonnes of cocaine, 2.2 tonnes of MDMA and more than 900kg of heroin.

It’s estimated that Aussies spent $11.3 billion dollars on illegal drugs including meth, cocaine, MDMA and heroin from August 2018 to August 2019, according to the findings released today.

ACIC CEO Michael Phelan called the findings “tragic” and said they were an indicator of the harmful grip organised criminals had on parts of the community.

“Illicit drugs have a devastating impact on everyday Australians. Organised criminals involved in the illicit drug trade prey on our communities to make a profit,” Mr Phelan said.

“They don’t care about the devastation caused through health and social costs or the drug-related crime.

“By measuring the level of consumption of illicit drugs and legal drugs with abuse potential, the NWDMP can identify new sources of threat and be used as a key indicator of harm posed by these substances.”