Methamphetamine users recognised the high purity of base and ice relative to powder
methamphetamine (Table 20) and the majority (73%) rated the overall purity of methamphetamine
as medium to high. Analysis of methamphetamine seizures in NSW indicated that, although the
median purity of methamphetamine was low, purity doubled from a median of 6% in 2001 and
2002 to 13% in 2003.
17
These purity data should be treated with caution because they are based
on only a small and potentially biased sample of drug seizures that undergo purity analysis.
Nonetheless, this increase in the purity of NSW methamphetamine seizures is consistent with
more comprehensive data from drug seizures in Victoria (see Methamphetamine: physical forms,
purity and terminology).