It is estimated an average of 5.5kg was used in New Zealand per week during the third quarter. Photo: 123RF
Police say the latest wastewater test results which show a major increase in the use of methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA are concerning and they are working to understand the sudden increase.
Testing over the last quarter was conducted from July to September 2024 at the 59 wastewater sites that cover about 76 percent of New Zealand's population.
The National Drugs in Wastewater Testing Programme data showed a more than 100 percent increase in meth use compared to the previous four quarters with an estimated average of 32.4kg of the drug consumed each week.
Police said all four policing districts also recorded above average meth use when compared to the previous four quarters.
Cocaine use had an 86 percent increase with an estimated 5.5kg of the drug used per week during the third quarter.
MDMA saw a 22 percent increase compared to the previous four quarters, with an estimated 8.5kg of the drug used weekly.
Police said they were looking at why there was increased drug use during this period, but said the factors that influence drug use were varied making it hard to identify specific causes.
Globally pricing and availability played a significant role in the consumption of illegal drugs, they said.
In a statement, Detective Inspector Tim Chao of the National Drug Intelligence Bureau said police remained focus on disrupting the supply of illegal drugs.
"Police is one piece of this complex social challenge of trying to combat drug importation and supply as well as the more difficult part in trying to educate and deter people from using drugs in the first place."
Those who used illicit substances needed "to understand the violence, harm, and disfunction that occurs in the manufacture and distribution of these substances before it reaches the user", he said.
"These results are concerning, and work continues to try and understand the sudden increase."
Meth drug to cause most damage in NZ after alcohol
Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm said it was the highest volume of meth and cocaine seen since the wastewater testing programme started in 2018.
They were not aware of an increasing number of people using methamphetamine, and the figures could indicate people were using larger quantities, she said.
Increased use of methamphetamine and cocaine would lead to an increase in addiction, she said.
Helm said there was an urgent need to ramp up harm reduction, prevention and acute service provision to meet the likely increased need.
Professor Chris Wilkins of SHORE & Whariki Research Centre, Massey University told Science Media Centre that international comparisons of wastewater results showed that New Zealand had the fourth highest consumption of methamphetamine use behind the United States, Australia and the Czech Republic.
He said the latest findings were consistent with the recent NZ Drugs Trends Survey results which indicated meth prices had dropped by 36 percent and that the drug had stable availability.
Associate Professor James Foulds, a forensic psychiatrist at the University of Otago in Christchurch, told the Science Media Centre that most meth used in New Zealand came from overseas.
That meant that the recent spike of methamphetamine in wastewater suggested imports were getting through without being detected.
After alcohol, meth was the drug that caused the most harm in New Zealand including acute paranoia, violence and suicidal behaviour, as well as physical health effects such as heart damage, he said.
Solutions to New Zealand's meth problem were complex, but law enforcement needed to target commercial meth supply rather than those who consumed the drug and a whole of government approach was needed, he said.