Alarm bells in drugs seizures

AUSTRALIANS took more than 11,000kg of the harmful drug “meth” during one year, the most recent Illicit Drug Data Report shows.

But Tasmania was the only state to report an overall decrease in purity of the drug over 2019-20, with an average median purity of 13 per cent compared with 83 per cent in Victoria.

The two most notorious drug markets in Australia are cannabis and amphetaminetype stimulants (ATS), comprising three-quarters of national arrests over 2019-20.

Half of the country’s drug seizures related to cannabis, and a third of seizures included ATS.

Tasmania had the highest rise in ATS seizures by percentage within a year, with a 57.2 per cent boost from 743 to 1168 seizures.

Tasmania also had an 11 per cent leap in cannabis-related arrests.

Throughout the 2019-20 period – which was partially marred by the effects of Covid-19 – many drug markets showed signs of expansion.

The large cannabis market and small heroin market expanded, as did the consumption of cocaine and hallucinogens.

“Over the last decade, the methylamphetamine, MDMA, cannabis and cocaine markets have expanded, while there have been mixed changes in the heroin market,” the report said.

Border detections of MDMA, cannabis and cocaine were significantly higher in 2019-20 than they had been in 2010-11.

Methylamphetamine was responsible for a 28 per cent rise in border detections over the period, while heroin detections dropped by 24 per cent.

International mail was the most popular route into the country in the reporting period, comprising more than 90 per cent of MDMA, cocaine and cannabis imports, 80 per cent of ATS excluding MDMA and 73 per cent of heroin imports.

A record 38.5 tonnes of drugs were seized in 121,274 seizures, and 166,321 Australians were arrested for drugrelated crimes. The tally equates to one seizure every 4.5 minutes.

Tasmania was the only state not to report a seizure of GHB, GBL or 1,4-BD – with no labs for these depressants detected in the state in the past decade.