2014 Key Australian findings: psychostimulant drug market Natasha - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

2014 Key Australian findings: psychostimulant drug market

National Drug Trends Conference Maritime museum, Sydney Monday, 20th October, 2014 Natasha Sindicich & Lucy Burns

Funded by the Australian Government under the Substance Misuse Prevention and Service Improvement Grants Fund

• Recruitment and demographics
• Ecstasy Market
• NPS and Synthetic cannabis market
• Methamphetamine market
• Other drugs markets
• Summary of main points

EDRS Recruitment 2003-2014

809 852 810 752 741 678 756 693 574 607 686 800 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Source: EDRS interviews

Number of EDRS participants 2003-2014

• NT criteria slightly differed in terms of how long resided in Darwin, reached 100
• Online became the most prominent way participants were recruited
• N=13 (2%) participants had not used ecstasy
• N=77 (10%) were not regular ecstasy users

Demographics of EDRS participants

• Mean age 23 years
• Male (66%)
• English speaking back ground (97%)
• Heterosexual (89%)
• Tertiary educated (46%)
• Unemployed (15%)
• Currently in drug treatment (2%)
• Proportions similar to previous years

Drug of choice, 2003-2014

52 50 51 45 39 37 42 38 27 32 33 36 12 13 12 15 14 13 17 16 20 19 23 25 5 5 8 5 10 11 8 14 13 6 8 3 6 5 9 12 11 15 18 12

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 % reported use Ecstasy Cannabis Cocaine Alcohol

• Preference for ecstasy is steady at 36% as the drug of choice
• Preference for alcohol has significantly decreased from 18% to 12%, still in 3rd place

Ecstasy (MDMA) use and Market

Dom

• mesti

stic tr trends s for

• r ecsta

stasy sy, , 2014

4.8 6.1 7.5 8.9 10.3 10.9 2.4 2.9 3.4 3.5 3 2.5 .5

1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013

General po l popula pulation e ecs cstasy us use, 1998 998-201 013

Ever us r used Used ed l last 1 12 m month ths

• Australian population use has

decreased

• At the border seizure numbers are

the highest on record 2012-13 Num umbe ber r and weight ght of M f MDMA d detect ctions at at the he A Aus ustralia ian bo border, r, 2003 003/04 04 - 2012 12/13 /13

Source: AIHW, 2014 Source: Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

Illicit tablets seized by major drug type Forensic purity and availability

93.0%

2.6% 2.2% Ecstasy (MDMA, MDEA and MDA) Methorphan No drugs detected Piperazines (BZP and TFMPP) Caffeine

July 2013- June 2014

52%

30%

7% 4% 7% Methorphan Ecstasy (MDMA and MDA) Methylamphetamine No drugs detected

• ther

July 2012- June 2013

Source: Victoria Police Forensic Services

• Ecstasy is clearly the major drug type in illicit tablets seized
• Ecstasy pills are considered ‘medium’ (36%)

Ecsta stasy sy f for

• rms,

s, 2014

• Increasing use of MDMA crystals

100 100 100 98 97 95 96 92 19 27 47 53 53 50 53 1 11 14 17 26 25 27 24 39 49 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 % reported use pills capsules powder MDMA crystals

Source: EDRS interviews

MD MDMA cr MA cryst stal/rock ck Ecst cstasy sy pi pills, s, po powder, ca capsu psules

Price: $25 per pill Purity: Availability:

21 36 19 23 Low Medium High Fluctuates 9 26 58 8 Low Medium High Fluctuates

96 95 96 94 92 94 88 69 72 89 86 89 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % of respondents

easy-very easy

Price: $25 per point, $250 per gram Purity: Availability: easy-very easy 68%

• Dark web found most ecstasy for sale

was crystal/rock MDMA (44-49%) Agora & Silk Road 2.0

• Last use venue for both forms was

nightclubs followed by live music venue/concert

New Psy sychoa

• active Su

Substa stances (N s (NPS) S)

• Population estimates for NPS and synthetic cannabis is low
• NPS stabilised and synthetic cannabis has decreased

Source: EDRS interviews

28 6 33 15 37 16

36 7 ↓

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

NPS Synthetic cannabinoids

% reported use

NPS and synthetic cannabis use, 2014

2011 2012 2013 2014 0.4 1.3 0.4 1.2 0.5 1 1.5

NPS Synthetic cannabis

Population estimates of NPS and synthetic cannabis use, 2013

Lifetime Recent

Source: AIHW, 2014

NPS recent use, 2013-2014

2 4 6 8 10 12 14

14 14 8 6 3 4 2 14 12 9 6 5 3 3 2

% reported use 2013 2014

Source: UNODC Early Warning Advisory on NPS, 2014

DMT can produce powerful psychedelic experiences including intense visuals, euphoria and hallucinations Life time: 27%, Recent use 14% Days of use: 1 day (VIC, WA, QLD)

• Comes in crystals or pills

49% sought DMT, 51% were offered DMT Sourced mainly from friends (65%), dealers (15%) , given as a gift (9%), and online (8%) 93% smoked, 7% swallow, 3% snorted

NB NBOM OMe

• designed to mimic or produce similar effects to common illicit drugs such as

LSD

• Implicated in the deaths of Henry Kwang and Preston Bridge

13% Lifetime use, 9% recent use 2 days (SA, WA, QLD) 91% swallowed, 4% smoked and 3% snorted It was sought by 54% of participants and offered to 46% of participants $15-$30 per blotter, $20-$25 per pill Last source included: friend (53%), dealer (28%) and online (17%) MDMA, 25I-NBOMe, Caffeine, MSM

Synthetic cannabis

‘Pure Sin 3g’: FUB-144 detected, MSM indicated. Packaging states: Lab certified, no banned chemicals, does not contain JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47, 497, C8-Homologue, AM2201, and MAM2201. 9 5 5 1 5 3.5 10 2 4 2 4 6 8 10 DMT K2/Spice Kronic Rating Pleasurable effects Negative effects Take again

• Decrease in use particularly of Kronic
• Days of use still low at 2.5 days (last 6 months)
• Likeability ratings were low for synthetic cannabis in 2013
• Despite passing of law in October 2013, manufacturers still

trying to get around it

Recent Methamphetamine use, 2003-2014

• Median days: ice/crystal 6 days, speed 3 days, base 5 days

Source: EDRS interviews

84 83 84 82 71 59 54 56 60 61 50 47 73 68 74 64 57 46 45 47 49 48 37 36 36 39 38 34 26 18 15 13 16 15 6 8 52 45 38 49 33 24 15 17 26 29 23 20 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 % reported use Any meth Speed Base Ice/crystal

Ice/Crystal recent use by jurisdiction, 2013-2014

Days of use: QLD (12 days), ACT (8 days) , VIC (8 days)

23 45 20 13 8 34 14 20 17 27 26 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 National NSW ACT VIC TAS SA WA NT QLD 2013 2014

Related dr d drug ug us use t trends ds, 20 2014

Source: EDRS interviews

27 27 41 37 40 36 39 48 46 40 36 44 ↑ 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Cocaine LSD Ketamine GHB Cannabis

• Cannabis stable on all fronts
• Cocaine has increased in recent use,

no change in frequency or market

• characteristics. Indicators appear stable

(values marked)

• LSD issue of mistaken identity with

NBOMe and harms associated. QLD highest use, days of use low.

• Ketamine recent use nationally stable –

recent use in VIC is high. Days of use low.

• GHB recent use still low, highest in VIC

and NSW. Days of use low.

Snapshot summary of recent use, 2013-2014

Source: EDRS interviews * includes licit and illicit use

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 98.8 97 86 50 36 43 37 32 33 27 25 19 17 16 12 6 97 98 83 47 44 41 36 34 21 21↓ 23 18 17 7 12 5 % reported recent use

2013 2014

Snapshot days of use RPU, 2014

48 32 13 6 5 3 2.5 2 2 2 2 1.5 10 20 30 40 50 60

Summary: Key messages

Synthetic cannabis ↓ MDMA crystals ↑ All other drugs ≈

Acknowledgments

Study participants Agencies assisting with recruitment Key experts Agencies and individuals providing indicator data Researchers and institutions across Australia The NDARC team with their help with the handout and the conference Current and previous national EDRS and IDRS coordinators The Funders – Australian Government Department of Health