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Source: ONE News -
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Methamphetamine use appears to be levelling out, but ecstasy is gaining in popularity, according to a Massey University study just released.
Lead researcher Dr Chris Wilkins said the reasons behind the developments could be the bad reputation of methamphetamine, or P, and the outlawing of the party pill drug BZP last year.
"The ban on BZP may be encouraging more people to use ecstasy," he said.
Wilkins warned that ecstasy users needed to be aware of the risks, including the possibility that they might not be taking pure ecstasy, but a mixture of methamphetamine, ketamine and BZP.
He said the study's findings illustrated the effectiveness of prohibiting a previously legal substance - in this case, BZP - by changing the way it was supplied and making it more difficult and expensive to get.
The findings are contained in the latest annual Illicit Drugs Monitoring System report, which looks at trends in illegal drug use and drug-related harm in New Zealand.
Researchers interviewed 404 frequent drug users in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Those spoken to reported that fewer people they knew were using methamphetamine last year compared with 2006 and the availability of P had become more difficult.
The report said the price of a gram had increased from $610 in 2006 to $698 last year.
It pointed to other data that were consistent with their findings in terms of level of use.
They included the drop both in the number of illegal labs that police detected and in calls to the Drug and Alcohol Helpline in relation to methamphetamine.
However, the use of ecstasy appeared to be rising, with the drug's availability considered to be easier last year than in 2006.
As well, over the same period, the mean price of a pill fell to $55 from $59.
Cocaine was also reported as having been use increasingly over the past two years.
The report said few of those questioned had any experience of cocaine, which was considered to be difficult to obtain.
Nevertheless, cocaine's availability was reported to have been easier last year than in 2007 and its purity was higher.
Researchers also found that drug use and driving was at least as big a problem as alcohol and driving.
Yet drug users who drove believed they are less likely to be detected when stopped by police than if they had been drinking.
Wilkins said more educational and public awareness campaigns were needed to highlight the risks of driving while under the influence of drugs.
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