The latest test results from the WA Police Waste Water Analysis Project have shown significant decreases in the level of methylamphetamine use in Perth and selected regional centres so far in the 2016/17 Financial Year.
Compared to the average meth consumption levels recorded in 2015/16, the latest results from April 2017 indicate a 26.6% decrease in Perth and a 41.5% decrease in Bunbury, which previously had the highest rate of meth consumption at sites tested in WA, WA Police say.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Pryce Scanlan, from the State Crime Portfolio, described the results as "promising", but warned there was no cause for celebration or complacency as meth still posed a massive challenge for government and the community, with significant impacts for law enforcement, health, child and family services.
"The trend downwards in the past three test periods is obviously pleasing, but the sobering reality is WA still has a projected annual meth habit of 1.54 tonnes, with an estimated street value of just over $1.5 billion," Acting Assistant Commissioner Scanlan said.
"The results from the most recent analysis in April 2017 were the lowest recorded in Perth, Bunbury and Kalgoorlie since testing at those sites commenced. However we have seen significant fluctuations in the results in the past and there’s no guarantee the lower levels of meth use will continue."
The key results from the WA Police Waste Water Analysis Project so far in 2016/17 are;
•Meth use in WA peaked in September 2016 at all sites tested – to the highest levels since the project started.
•Test results from November 2016, February 2017 and April 2017 each showed double digit decreases in meth use in Perth, Bunbury and Kalgoorlie.
•For Perth the meth use levels were down 22.6% in November 2016, -23.4% in February 2017 and -10.8% in April 2017.
•For Bunbury the meth use levels were down 26.7% in November 2016, -27.1% in February 2017 and -11.8% in April 2017.
•Testing commenced in Kalgoorlie in November 2016 and results were down 17.8% in February 2017 and -12.2% in April 2017.
•Meth usage in Kalgoorlie in April 2017 was 14.4% higher than in the Bunbury catchment during the same test period.
•Testing in Broome commenced in November 2016 and results since then indicate it had the lowest levels of meth use of all the catchments tested.
•Spot testing of evaporation ponds carried out in August and October 2016 at 16 remote communities in the Kimberley all returned positive results for meth. The analysis was not able to determine the level of consumption, rather it was used to identify whether or not meth had been used in a given community.
The WA Project results do not provide a national perspective. The first report from the national waste water testing program conducted by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) based on test results from August 2016 indicated WA had the highest level of meth use in Australia.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Scanlan said the reasons for the decline in meth use in WA between September 2016 and April 2017 were not easily defined.
"From a policing perspective we have had considerable success, in tandem with our Federal partners, in interrupting supply, and in 2015/16 and 2016/17 we have so far intercepted approximately 890 kilograms of meth headed for our streets," Acting Assistant Commissioner Scanlan said.
"It could be that the major trafficking syndicates may not be viewing WA as such a soft target after those losses.
"And the theory that WA’s mining boom and the high disposable incomes it created contributed to our high rate of meth use in the past could, if true, be working in reverse with the end of the boom."
Acting Assistant Commissioner Scanlan said there were also some recent indicators that demand for meth is waning, with the 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) survey results released early this month showing Australians are far more aware now of the dangers meth posed than they were three years ago.
The 2016 NDSHS also indicated a national decline in the rate of meth/amphetamine use from 2.1% to 1.4% (no state figures were released at the time).
The decrease in meth detection in WA since September 2016 is mirrored by a corresponding fall in the State’s crime rate.
"We know from research that meth use contributes significantly to property crime and offences against a person, hence the importance of maintaining pressure on supply and demand," Acting Assistant Commissioner Scanlan said.
"Whilst the recent decrease in meth use is pleasing, we are still seeing the tragic consequences of this drug in our community, our courts and our health system every day."
Project Background.
•WA Police has been working with waste water treatment plants to analyse waste water to provide an indicator of the level of methamphetamine use in WA.
•Similar Waste Water Analysis Projects have been undertaken in other Australian jurisdictions and internationally.
•The testing does not enable the determination of the number of people using methylamphetamine. Wastewater testing cannot be used to identify individual users or dealers, rather it provides data on the amount consumed within a large region.
•Waste water samples are taken from the raw waste pre-treatment. The collection of pre-treated waste water samples at major treatment plants is done via an automated sampling process to international standards.
•The WA Police Waste Water Analysis Project commenced in July 2015 at three major waste water treatment plants across the Perth metro area, capturing a population of approximately 1.5 million people.
•The Waste Water Analysis Project was expanded in November 2015 into regional WA, first at Bunbury, then Geraldton in January 2016, and Kalgoorlie and Broome in November 2016. Testing in Geraldton and Broome has since ceased.
