Hi all,
Each year, researchers around Australia interview ecstasy users as part of the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System, or EDRS (formerly the Party Drug Initiative or PDI). The EDRS is funded solely by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
The EDRS is a national and annual monitoring system designed to track emerging trends in drug use and harm, with the intention of reducing harms related to drug use in Australia.
We thought we’d post a few results from last year’s survey just so you have an idea of the types of things we find.
What does out sample look like?
Almost two-thirds were male and the average age was 25 years. Most came from an English-speaking background and the majority identified as heterosexual. More than two-fifths had obtained a post-secondary qualification, 37% were employed full-time and 22% were full-time students. Only a small number of people reported that they were currently in drug treatment or had a prison history.
Drug use
Ecstasy was rarely used on its own – 93% reported typically using other drugs with ecstasy, mostly alcohol, cannabis and stimulants, and 80% typically used other drugs when coming down from ecstasy, mostly cannabis, tobacco and alcohol.
Alcohol, cannabis and tobacco were the drugs most likely to have been used in the 6 months before interview. Participants had used a range of other drugs in the 6 months before interview:
* 64% had used speed
* 49% had used crystal
* 37% had used cocaine
* 34% had used base
* 29% had used LSD (‘acid’, ‘trips’)
* 14% had used ketamine (‘special K’)
* 8% had used GHB (‘fantasy’, ‘liquid E’)
* 7% had used MDA (a stimulant hallucinogen which has effects similar to ecstasy)
* 20% had ever injected a drug in their lives, and of those, 69% had injected in the 6 months before the interview.
Laws about traffiking
This year, we asked ecstasy users what they knew about the laws on drug trafficking (“dealing”). Specifically, we asked people whether they knew how many ecstasy pills people needed to have on them to be charged with supply.
Two thirds of the people we spoke to did not know - most users overestimated the number of pills that satisfied the law’s limits for “drug supply”.
This means that some of you or your friends may be taking bigger risks than you think you are taking.
Here’s what else you told us:
* On average, people buy 8 pills at a time.
* On average, people thought that 9 pills or more was the legal limit for drug supply (some people thought it was 100 pills). This is not correct. For details about the laws in your state you should consult a previous post which has links to these laws listed.
* Most people buy for friends as well as themselves, often because buying in bulk is cheaper.
* Half of the people interviewed thought that the law did not consider holding drugs for mates as “supply”. This is not correct. The law considers having drugs for friends as drug supply.
* There is no distinction between a person having ecstasy for their best friends, or if they plan to sell the pills to people unknown to them. If you tell police that you “have drugs for your friends”, this may result in immediate police charges of drug trafficking.
Alcohol use
On average, those who drank alcohol did so twice a week, although one in ten reported daily drinking. Just over half were consuming alcohol at levels considered to be hazardous, harmful, and potentially indicating dependence by the World Health Organization guidelines.
It's happening again
The EDRS is recruiting in all states and territories again this year. If you are interested in participating, the contact details for your capital city are below.
* If you're in Adelaide contact Nancy at Drug and Alcohol Services SA on 08 8274 3316 or email [email protected]
* If you're in Canberra contact Gab at UNSW by email [email protected], or call 02 9385 0286 or SMS 0406 887 183
*If you're in Darwin contact Gab at UNSW by email [email protected], or call 02 9385 0286 or SMS 0406 887 183
* If you're in Perth contact Tanja at the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University on 08 9266 1636 or email T.L'[email protected]
* If you're in Brisbane or the Gold Coast call Ana at the Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre (QADREC) on 07 3346 4849, or 0434 606 981, or email [email protected]
* If you're in Sydney contact Matt at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) on 02 9385 0167, or SMS 0421 457 868 or email [email protected]
*If you're in Melbourne contact the research team at Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre on 03 8413 8515 or email [email protected]
*If you're in Hobart call one of the research team on 03 6226 7696 or call/SMS 0409 803 813 or email [email protected]
Each year, researchers around Australia interview ecstasy users as part of the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System, or EDRS (formerly the Party Drug Initiative or PDI). The EDRS is funded solely by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
The EDRS is a national and annual monitoring system designed to track emerging trends in drug use and harm, with the intention of reducing harms related to drug use in Australia.
We thought we’d post a few results from last year’s survey just so you have an idea of the types of things we find.
What does out sample look like?
Almost two-thirds were male and the average age was 25 years. Most came from an English-speaking background and the majority identified as heterosexual. More than two-fifths had obtained a post-secondary qualification, 37% were employed full-time and 22% were full-time students. Only a small number of people reported that they were currently in drug treatment or had a prison history.
Drug use
Ecstasy was rarely used on its own – 93% reported typically using other drugs with ecstasy, mostly alcohol, cannabis and stimulants, and 80% typically used other drugs when coming down from ecstasy, mostly cannabis, tobacco and alcohol.
Alcohol, cannabis and tobacco were the drugs most likely to have been used in the 6 months before interview. Participants had used a range of other drugs in the 6 months before interview:
* 64% had used speed
* 49% had used crystal
* 37% had used cocaine
* 34% had used base
* 29% had used LSD (‘acid’, ‘trips’)
* 14% had used ketamine (‘special K’)
* 8% had used GHB (‘fantasy’, ‘liquid E’)
* 7% had used MDA (a stimulant hallucinogen which has effects similar to ecstasy)
* 20% had ever injected a drug in their lives, and of those, 69% had injected in the 6 months before the interview.
Laws about traffiking
This year, we asked ecstasy users what they knew about the laws on drug trafficking (“dealing”). Specifically, we asked people whether they knew how many ecstasy pills people needed to have on them to be charged with supply.
Two thirds of the people we spoke to did not know - most users overestimated the number of pills that satisfied the law’s limits for “drug supply”.
This means that some of you or your friends may be taking bigger risks than you think you are taking.
Here’s what else you told us:
* On average, people buy 8 pills at a time.
* On average, people thought that 9 pills or more was the legal limit for drug supply (some people thought it was 100 pills). This is not correct. For details about the laws in your state you should consult a previous post which has links to these laws listed.
* Most people buy for friends as well as themselves, often because buying in bulk is cheaper.
* Half of the people interviewed thought that the law did not consider holding drugs for mates as “supply”. This is not correct. The law considers having drugs for friends as drug supply.
* There is no distinction between a person having ecstasy for their best friends, or if they plan to sell the pills to people unknown to them. If you tell police that you “have drugs for your friends”, this may result in immediate police charges of drug trafficking.
Alcohol use
On average, those who drank alcohol did so twice a week, although one in ten reported daily drinking. Just over half were consuming alcohol at levels considered to be hazardous, harmful, and potentially indicating dependence by the World Health Organization guidelines.
It's happening again
The EDRS is recruiting in all states and territories again this year. If you are interested in participating, the contact details for your capital city are below.
* If you're in Adelaide contact Nancy at Drug and Alcohol Services SA on 08 8274 3316 or email [email protected]
* If you're in Canberra contact Gab at UNSW by email [email protected], or call 02 9385 0286 or SMS 0406 887 183
*If you're in Darwin contact Gab at UNSW by email [email protected], or call 02 9385 0286 or SMS 0406 887 183
* If you're in Perth contact Tanja at the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University on 08 9266 1636 or email T.L'[email protected]
* If you're in Brisbane or the Gold Coast call Ana at the Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre (QADREC) on 07 3346 4849, or 0434 606 981, or email [email protected]
* If you're in Sydney contact Matt at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) on 02 9385 0167, or SMS 0421 457 868 or email [email protected]
*If you're in Melbourne contact the research team at Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre on 03 8413 8515 or email [email protected]
*If you're in Hobart call one of the research team on 03 6226 7696 or call/SMS 0409 803 813 or email [email protected]
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