Australians spent some $12.4 billion Australian ($8.2 billion US) in a year on cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and methylamphetamine, according to an analysis of waste water across the country by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) published on Wednesday.
Some $10.5 billion were spent on methylamphetamine alone between August 2022 and August 2023, according to the ACIC report. Wastewater analysis showed a 1.5 ton increase to 10.5 tons in national consumption of the drug, which is also known as meth or ice.
In total, over 16.5 tons of meth, cocaine, heroin and ecstasy (or MDMA) was consumed in the 12 months to August 2023. The 17% increase from the previous year was mostly driven by the 19% rise in the use of cocaine to 4 tons and the 19% rise in the use of meth.
A further estimated 13.6 tons of cannabis used takes the total consumed weight of the five illicit drugs to over 30 tons nationally over the year.
ACIC boss Heather Cook said that the rise in meth consumption was particularly concerning "because of the significant community harms it causes."
"The groups engaged in illicit drug trafficking and production have no regard for our laws or the harms their trade causes. They are highly capable, well-resourced, resilient and increasingly transnational," Cook said.
The data covers 14.5 million Australians - about 57% of the country's population - and is based on wastewater samples collected from across the country in August and October 2023.