NT trends in ecstasy and related drug markets 2011 : findings from the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS)
NT trends in ecstasy and related drug markets; Reports; PublicationNT
2011
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
Date:2011; Australian drug trends series No. 80
English
Drug abuse surveys -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Ecstasy (Drug) -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Drug abuse -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales
Sydney (N.S.W)
9780733430206
Check within Publication or with content Publisher.
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/242182
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/610318
xii (buprenorphine-naloxone). Thirty-two percent of the sample reported recent injection of oxycodone (33% in 2010) and 52% reported recent use of over-the-counter (OTC) codeine, an increase from the 35% who reported recent OTC codeine use in 2010. Recent use of any form of benzodiazepine increased to 61% of the sample (52% in 2010 and 55% in 2009), with 36% of the sample reporting recent use of non-prescribed Alprazolam. Only one participant reported recent use of cocaine (4% in 2010) and recent hallucinogenic use was also infrequent, reported by 7% of the sample (4% in 2010). Recent alcohol use was reported by 63% of the sample (57% in 2010) and daily use of tobacco was reported by 97% of the sample (90% in 2010). Heroin Nine percent of the sample reported recent heroin use (5% in 2010), on a median of 21 days. Any form of heroin, including homebake, was recently used by 11% of the sample (9% in 2010) on a median of 12 days. Eleven percent of the sample also reported recently injecting heroin (5% in 2010). In 2011, white or off-white heroin powder was the form most frequently used whereas in 2010 homebake was the form most often used. Consistent with previous years, few participants were able to comment upon heroin price, purity and availability. Two respondents commented upon the price of a cap of heroin (median of $80) and two upon the price of a gram of heroin (median of $550). The reported median price of a cap of heroin in 2011 is equal to that reported in 2009. One respondent reported high purity, two considered purity to be low and one reported fluctuating purity Two of the four respondents who commented upon current heroin availability considered that it was easy while the other two rated current availability as difficult. Methamphetamine Fifty-five percent of the sample reported recent use of any form of methamphetamine, which includes speed powder, ice, base and liquid. This is a notable increase from 36% who reported recent use of any form of methamphetamine in 2010 and equal to the proportion of the sample who reported recent use of any form of methamphetamine in 2009. Speed powder was again the form most frequently used (by 43% of the sample compared to 25% in 2010), followed by ice (28% compared to 18% in 2010), base (12% compared to 6% in 2010) and liquid (4% compared to 2% in 2010). Over half the sample (51%) reported recent injection of any form of methamphetamine, an increase from the 34% who reported recent injection in 2010 and equal to the 2009 result. Twenty-four percent of the sample reported recent injection of ice (16% in 2010) and 13% reported recently smoking ice (3% in 2010). In 2011 the median price of both points (one tenth of a gram) and half-weights of speed powder did not differ to prices reported in 2010, with the median price of points at $100 and the median price of a half-weight at $250. The median price for a gram of speed powder was $400, a decrease from the 2010 median price of $450. The cost of ice reduced to a median of $1,000 a gram from $1,350 in 2010 and points reduced to a median of $150 compared to $200 in 2010. The median price of a gram of base increased to $700 from $250 in 2010 and there was a concomitant increase in the median price of points ($150 in 2011 compared to $100 in 2010). More respondents considered the price of speed powder and ice to be increasing (rather than decreasing, stable or fluctuating) whereas of the few who commented upon base methamphetamine price movements, most considered price to be stable. Eighty percent of those able to comment considered that speed powder was currently either easy or very easy to obtain, a notable increase from the 42% who rated powder current