Australia has topped a list of 25 countries for methamphetamine use uncovered through wastewater testing, with Western Australia leading the nation for the highest average capital city consumption of the drug.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s latest national wastewater drug monitoring program report, released on Thursday, showed an increase in average meth use across both Perth and in WA’s regions.

Australia leads an international wastewater survey for meth use – and Perth has the highest average consumption in Australia – but it’s not the state’s favourite drug.Credit:Shannon Morris

More than half of Australia’s population was covered by the sampling program, which monitored three city sites and four regional sites in WA in December 2021 and February 2022. Exact locations of where wastewater samples are taken are not released to protect the program’s integrity.

But a leading expert cautions that wastewater data alone does not paint a whole picture of drug use in WA, where stimulants have traditionally been preferred over drugs like heroin.

National Drug Research Institute Professor Steve Allsop said while WA reported the highest capital city meth use in the wastewater survey, cannabis remained the most commonly used illicit drug in the state, with 11.2 per cent of the population reporting using it in the latest National Drugs Strategy Household Survey.

“You know, people don’t walk around saying, ‘Oh, I used some meth yesterday’; it tends to be a hidden behaviour,” he said.

“So we need to look at what people who are in treatment have been using … what consumers tell us … what’s happening in emergency departments … examine the drug seizures.

“And this is why wastewater analysis can also add to the information, but you can’t just take it on its own.”

The commission’s wastewater report showed a decline in cannabis use in the WA city sites surveyed but an increase in the regions, where consumption in December last year was the highest on record.

Across 28 countries where wastewater was surveyed, Australia had the highest meth use per capita compared to the other 24 that also reported the drug’s consumption, the commission’s chief executive Michael Phelan wrote in the report.

Australia ranked 15th out of 26 countries to report cocaine consumption, fifth out of 27 countries reporting MDMA, or ecstasy, consumption, and sixth out of 16 countries that reported cannabis consumption.

New South Wales had the highest average regional consumption of meth use and also led the country in cocaine consumption in both Sydney and the regions, while in WA cocaine use increased in Perth but decreased in the regions.

Allsop said WA’s population, work habits, and distance from where drugs are manufactured or imported helped paint the picture of higher meth use than the rest of the country.

“But what’s really important to know is that, in fact, methamphetamine use has remained relatively stable over the last few years,” he said.

And while meth use hasn’t gone up substantially, and the number of people using it remains low – about 2.1 per cent of the population, according to the household survey – the proportion of users who end up needing treatment is high.

“If you look at the proportion of people who end up in residential treatment services, which is where those with the most challenging and complex problems might end up, then methamphetamine and alcohol are predominant in those sorts of admissions,” Allsop said.

A 2021 National Drug Research Institute report conservatively estimated the social, health and economic costs of alcohol to Australia at $66.8 billion in 2017/18, while a 2016 report examining the social costs of meth use found that costs relating to crime were the single biggest contributor.

Thursday’s commission report also examined the impact of COVID restrictions on drug use in the country, pointing to “early signs of increased consumption” in illicit stimulant markets, but not yet at pre-pandemic levels.

“These fluctuations demonstrate that market changes, chiefly caused by COVID-related movement restrictions, are not strictly linear, but are subject to different environmental influences,” Phelan wrote.

Allsop said just as the general public was worried about the impact of COVID, those who used drugs would also have taken note of their vulnerabilities to health issues.

“So for some people, supply was interrupted and [they thought] maybe it was time to cut back or cut out to look after their wellbeing,” he said.

“And some people may have substituted for other drugs, things that were more easily available locally, such as cannabis and so on, that aren’t necessarily reliant on being imported from overseas.”

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