Adelaide tops world for methamphetamine or 'ice' use in massive wastewater drug study

Adelaide has recorded the highest methamphetamine use of all the cities in the world compared in a paper based on wastewater samples.

The paper published in the journal Addiction on Wednesday was the largest wastewater-based study undertaken in the world.

Adelaide, Canberra and Toowoomba were the three Australian cities out of 120 worldwide to have their sewage monitored in the study of 60 million people between 2011 and 2017.

In 2017, Adelaide's wastewater revealed between 507 and 659 milligrams of methamphetamine — or "ice" — per 1,000 people each day, compared with between 270 and 331mg in Canberra and Toowoomba.

The only foreign city to come close was Seattle, with 418mg on average over the three years the city's wastewater was tested.

It was the only US city to be part of the study, which mainly focused on Europe.

Canberra had a much higher cocaine use than the other two Australian cities.

Researchers mapped the use of amphetamine, methamphetamine (also known as ice), ecstasy and cocaine.

The highest cocaine levels were in the British cities of London and Bristol, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Antwerp in Belgium, and Zurich, Geneva and St Gallen in Switzerland.

Amphetamine use was highest in Belgium and the Netherlands, which was also the highest for ecstasy, also known as MDMA.

ce use high but going down: researcher

University of South Australia research associate Richard Bade was one of the lead authors of the study, which involved 41 international institutions, including the University of Queensland.

Dr Bade said methamphetamine use was linked to several health conditions, including mental disorders, elevated heart rates and domestic violence.

"It's important we determine the scale of the illicit drug market so that countries can work out the best way to tackle a $100 billion industry, which is contributing to the global burden of disease and affecting the economic development of many countries," he said.

He said the study did not necessarily find that Adelaide was the world leader in methamphetamine use because many countries and cities were not involved in the study.

"To put into a bit of context, the study was from 2017 and in fact since that time methamphetamine use in South Australia has actually been on the decrease," Dr Bade said.

"… And there's been plenty of initiatives around that reduction of methamphetamine use in Adelaide [since 2017]."

The study's authors found the wastewater results generally matched with other methods of estimating drug use, such as surveys and seizures by authorities.

It found wastewater testing "provides updated and objective estimates of drug use and allows identifying and highlighting new trends and specific profiles of use much earlier" than other indicators.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-24/adelaide-had-highest-meth-use-in-cities-i...

You wouldn't happen to live in Adelaide Gordon???

No surprises there, Adelaide's economy has always thrived on drugs, the bikies rule SA.

That stuff is like radiation!
People are rejecting to buy or rent into houses that fail the Meph Test.
Houses, units, etc - get seriously contaminated if Meph users have been living there and using.
People attain serious illnesses when they move into these places and get contaminated.
Worse than broken asbestos.

Australia is in the Region of Sahul.
The Region of Sahul is the most virulent (poisonous,venomous) of the 8 Regions of the World.
Our population has the highest ratio of use in the World and other 'narcotics'.
China, Mexico, Columbia, Somalia are all pumping drugs into this country like an 'INVASION'.
Killing our kids!
When I did Taxi, we would see the big week where a shipment of Meths, Coke, Ice etc would come in. We would have a tremendous spike in people out of their skulls and lacking motor neuron abilities. Absolute Zombies, swaying and bumping and falling.
When I lived in Sydney Boarding Houses with all sorts of licorice all-sorts. Every now and then a tenant would be found dead from a drug over-dose. The last time was when my Father finally came to visit to see what Twilight Zone I was hanging out in lately. I got a knock at the door and nice Stigsy just sadely said "Leo's Dead." I turned to my father and just said. "Might be best if you get going. Thanks for visiting anyway." Leo had told me he was going to Cabramatta. I got distracted, it didn't click (a few weeks before I had to kick Leo away from the fire, whose funnel was bright orange aglow - up into the roof where he was planning to burn down another Boarding House  ). In Cabramatta, you turn a corner into Vietnamatta: where Drug Dealers have both hands in their pockets - one for the locals and one for the 'White Boy'. The White Boy pocket provides a 'sleep immortal' cocktail - like the bite of a Spider or Snake.


Make no mistake of it. You wouldn't want your kids to grow up here. USA has its 'Gun' problems. We have our 'Drug' problems. They have . We have .

Adelaide is the city of churches, its like a big country town where everybody knows everybody, in an idyllic setting situated on a gulf with hills surrounding, tourists are greeted by wineries as far as you can see. Once drunk its time to take on the big smoke and the Hindley St strip joints and tee up with a bikie for some herbal tea, whores and some meth, be prepared to barter.

The locals keep a low profile.

There is nothing else to do in Adelaide but to take drugs and get drunk, they even turn off the streetlights at 11:30pm

Johnnie wrote on Oct 28^th, 2019 at 1:48pm:



BS .... that's what they said about Brisbane.

Adelaide is a city like all the rest with all the downsides of every other city.