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
15 4.3 Methamphetamine Key points Over half of the sample reported using some form of methamphetamine in the preceding six months, on a median of six days. Injecting remained the main route of administration. Speed powder remained the main form of methamphetamine used. Over a quarter of participants reported using ice in the preceding six months, on a median of four days. There was an increase in reported use of all forms of methamphetamine. In 2011, 55% of participants reported use of some form of methamphetamine, the same proportion as in 2009 and an increase from the 36% reported in 2010 (Table 3). Six days was the median number of days of use for any form of methamphetamine, a result similar to the 5 days reported in 2010 and 8 days in 2009. Injecting was the main route of administration (51%), the same result as in 2009 and an increase from the 34% reported in 2010. Speed powder was used by 43% of the sample on a median of six days and this was the form most commonly used. This is an increase from the 25% who reported recent use (on a median of 5 days) of speed powder in 2010. Recent use of ice increased from 18% in 2010 to 28% of the sample, on a median of 4 days, the same median days of use as recorded in 2010. Recent use of methamphetamine base also increased to 12% (6% in 2010) on a median of 6 days (10 days in 2010). Recent use of liquid methamphetamine remained low at 4% of the sample (2% in 2010) and median number of days used decreased from 45 days in 2010 to only 2 days in 2011. While injecting continues to be the main route of administration for all forms of methamphetamine, smoking of ice increased to 13% of the sample as compared to 3% in 2010 and 7% in 2009. Figure 4 demonstrates a reversal in the previously seen trend of declining rates of use of speed powder, base, liquid and pharmaceutical stimulants. In 2011, there was increase in recent use of all forms of methamphetamine, with the most striking increase in the use of speed powder (43% of participants in 2011 compared to 25% in 2010). Recent use of ice continued to trend upward, from 18% of participants in 2010 to 28% in 2011.