Australians use illicit drugs worth $5.8b

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) report released on Friday showed that the use of drugs by Australians has increased by 34 per cent between August 2023 and August 2024 over the previous year. Australians have consumed 22.2 tonnes of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA, known commonly known as “Ecstasy”.

- 

The commission found that the consumption of cocaine increased by 69 per cent over the previous year, MMA by 449 per cent, methamphetamine by 21 per cent, and heroin by [4 per cent. The “estimated street value” of the drugs consumed amounted to 11.5 Australians dollars or 5.8 billion US dollars.

The figures for the consumption of drugs was inferred through the analysis of wastewater, which is said to be the regular way of detecting the amounts of drugs. There has been increase in the use of drugs after the slump during COVID-I9. The commission said there is a “recovery of these illicit drug markets following the impact of COVID-I9 restrictions.”

According to the commission, “transnational and domestic serious and organized crime groups have rapidly reestablished and expanded their operations” after the pandemic. The commission maintains an objective tone and does not raise an alarm over the extensive use of drugs across Australia.