Data Journalism
Are Australia’s drug users really who you think they are?
The recent National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program has been released and showed some alarming statistics, such as the estimated consumption of illicit drugs of 11,615kg from 2019 alone.
The 2020 report was the ninth to be released by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission who collect data through 58 wastewater treatment plants across the country.
Any compound will be found after excretion in the sewer system whether it was smoked, injected or swallowed. The waste is sent from many places such as community buildings, homes, offices or hotels to the various treatment plants.
Samples are then collected and it can be measured to work out how much of the drug was used within a selected time frame. From this method, the program was able to look in depth into 13 different licit and illicit substances.
A major finding showed the threat and danger of methamphetamine use currently in Australia.
Apart from alcohol and nicotine, methamphetamine was the most commonly used illicit drug and has been on the rise for many years.
An estimated $11.3 billion was spent on illicit drugs in 2019 and over 76% of that amount was spent just on methamphetamine.
The issue appears to be more prevalent with so many users in the country and the amount of money that is being spent and generating illicit profit.
The 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey highlights similar concerns particularly with frequency of using the drug.
Methamphetamine, as well as cannabis (for non-medical purposes) were both extremely high in comparison to others of how often the population was consuming and using.
The survey showed that the drug was used as often as 1 or more times a week or at least once a month. For other drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, they were mostly used only once or twice in the whole year.
The amount of kilograms in each state and territory was determined, but when taking the population into account it was shown that WA and SA were the highest consumption per 100,000 people.
Since the statistics are showing to be so high it’s worth considering the reasons behind the illicit drug use.
The survey report looks into the motivations of continuing drug use and showed that 32% wanted to enhance experiences and 15.3% wanted to stop being unhappy and improve their mood.
Location appeared to be a factor in drug use as people from remote or very remote areas were more likely to use drugs in the past year compared to cities.
They used more cannabis, smoked tobacco more and were 2.5 times more likely to be using methamphetamines.
In comparison to this, cocaine and heroin consumption was then much higher in the capital cities.
Whilst this gives us an idea of what kind of drugs people take and where they take it, it’s important to consider the statistics of the age and gender.
Society can often display preconceived ideas or stereotypes that there are only certain types of people that can take drugs. Whether this is individuals experiencing homelessness, unemployed or low socioeconomic status.
In recent times, a large focus also on young festival goers due to drug related deaths and attention on pill testing at these events.
When looking at data presented from these reports it does often go against what people may have once thought.
The survey looks at the age and gender of recent use, but also the lifetime use of illicit drugs.
The largest age group for recent use which was within the year of the survey in 2016, was 14-29 year olds. Use of any illicit drugs was also more common in males at the time.
It shows that for lifetime users the age was actually at the highest between 30-49 years old and males were more frequently using drugs.
Overtime the average age of illicit drug takers has actually increased. In 2001 it was 29 years old and it has now risen and currently sits at 34 years old.
Young people in their 20’s currently the group to most likely to be taking illicit drugs currently, but it has actually declined to 28%. The average lifetime age may continue to rise if the behaviour does not continue though.
In 2016 the survey did briefly mention that although unemployed people are more likely to use cannabis, employed people are more likely to use cocaine.
These reports do show the importance of the data and facts when it does come to illegal drug use. It can be seen among any profession, age group or demographic and there is a lot to take into account. It isn’t always as it may appear in the media and the release of the 2 new reports later this year may show what direction illicit drug use is heading and the future for the drug methamphetamine in Australia.
Links to Datawrapper Graphs: