Next time you go to the toilet in your Queensland home or workplace, think of this. When you flush, you may be contributing in a small but important way to a drug testing study. So what is your flush going to say about you?
Before you start doing your number one’s on the lemon tree and your number two’s… (we don’t want to know where!) relax, while it is in fact possible to conduct drug testing from a single Queensland house, this drug testing is using the wastewater from an extremely large number of houses, businesses and other facilities. And the drug testing is being done not by Queensland Police but by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission for the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program.
The fourth report from the study has just been released and the latest drug testing figures provide some interesting, and sometimes sad, results from Queensland.
Queensland drug testing findings, fourth report
- Cocaine consumption in Queensland (and the Australian Capital Territory) have both increased to become nearly the second highest in the nation. While cocaine use was lower in regional areas compared with capital cities in every state and territory, Queensland was the exception.
- Alcohol consumption in some regional areas of Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia were well below the national average. However, many regional sites did not sample on weekends, when consumption of alcohol is typically higher.
- One site in Queensland where drug testing was carried out on wastewater had very high levels of methylamphetamine (e.g. ICE) use compared with other sites in the state and elsewhere in Australia.
- Regional Queensland and parts of Tasmania and Victoria were amongst the highest overall users of oxycodone.
- Methylamphetamine use rose in Queensland, particularly in city sites.
- Queensland regional areas had the dubious honour of having the highest level of MDMA (ecstasy) use.
Drug testing in Queensland workplaces
If it’s one thing businesses can learn from the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, it’s that Queenslanders, like other Australians, do take illicit drugs and do drink over the recommended guidelines.
To protect your Queensland business, you need a drug and alcohol policy and should conduct drug and alcohol testing regularly.
Integrity Sampling Queensland’s head office is based in Brisbane and is supported by a regional network of technicians strategically based to ensure we are able to service most areas of the State. Phone Integrity Sampling on 1300 SALIVA today!
