While latest drug testing results shows that South Australia has the highest regional methylamphetamine consumption in the nation, a peak drug and alcohol body says the testing doesn’t show the full extent of the issues.
The statement by SA Network of Drug and Alcohol Services comes after the release of the Australian Crime Intelligence Commission’s latest National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program results.
For this report, the 17th in the program, samples for drug testing were collected from 57 water treatment plants across Australia. This equates to around 56 per cent of the Australian population. Twelve different substances were monitored, including legal drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, and illegal substances, including cannabis and methylamphetamines.
The wastewater drug testing program provides valuable information about the trends in drug consumption across the country.
South Australian drug testing results
As highlighted in the opening paragraph, in the latest drug testing report, regional South Australia ranked first in the country for methylamphetamine consumption. Regional SA also led the way for consumption of fentanyl and cannabis.
The metropolitan area of South Australia isn’t much better, ranking second highest across the country for methylamphetamine, fentanyl and cannabis consumption.
Compared to the previous report for South Australia, consumption rose for alcohol (both city and regional), cannabis (city only), ketamine (both), MDA (city only), methylamphetamine (regional only) and nicotine (regional only)
Alcohol and cannabis the primary drugs of concern in SA
The latest report would suggest that methylamphetamine, fentanyl and cannabis are the three biggest drugs of concern in South Australia.
However, in an ABC News article, SA Network of Drug and Alcohol Services’ executive director Michael White says he believe the primary drug of concern is alcohol, followed by cannabis.
The concern about alcohol is backed up by Substance Misuse Limestone Coast project officer Sophie Bourchier.
“Alcohol is overwhelmingly the substance that people most often seek help for,” she said in the ABC News article.
In the article, Ms Bourchier says she did not regard the wastewater drug testing results as an accurate representation of what was really happening for people struggling with substance dependence. She added that the program does, however, provide a valuable snapshot of whether consumption of a particular drug is going up or down.
Mr White added that he would like to see more funding for drug and alcohol services.
“What you need is treatment to reduce the demand and early intervention and prevention to slow down the number of people taking drugs,” he said in the article.
IMAGE CAPTION:
Wastewater drug testing has indicated that methylamphetamine, fentanyl and cannabis are the three biggest drugs on concern in SA, but some experts believe alcohol is much more of an issue in the state. Credit Ivan Bandura https://unsplash.com/photos/Ac97OqAWDvg
