lil angel15
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Half a million Aussies on ecstasy: study
Thursday Oct 25 09:21
By ninemsn staff
Ecstasy has become the second most popular illicit drug of choice for Australians over the last ten years, according to a leading researcher.
Greg Fowler from the Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre has told industry peers the drug is more endemic than previously thought.
Mr Fowler's study, which was reported on abc.net.au, estimated that there were over 500,000 ecstasy users in Australia.
"Ecstasy is popular partly because it can be consumed in a tablet form," he said.
"It's perceived by consumers for that reason as perhaps having less risk than injecting drug use."
Mr Fowler hopes his findings will be able to assist police in cracking down on the drug, which has increasingly been used to bankroll the shady dealings of major players in the underworld.
Ecstasy tablets cost only about 25 cents to produce overseas and are sold on for a massive profit boon when they reach Australian shores.
Mr Fowler says a tablet will fetch up to $35 on the current market.
"Demand in Australia is supporting a price at that level and organised criminal groups are reaping substantial rewards and that creates an ongoing incentive," Mr Fowler said.
"So we need to look at some of the strategies policing can actually use to look at the various choke point on the supply chain."
The current market demand for the drug is second only to cannabis and far exceeds its oft-feted rival, cocaine.
"The cocaine market in Australia is substantially smaller than the ecstasy market but there is indications that the cocaine market may be growing," Mr Fowler said.
Last week three primary school children were rushed to hospital on the NSW south coast after ingesting ecstasy tablets they believed to be lollies.
The incident provoked outrage from police and community leaders who expressed shock over the drug's ready availability.
ninemsn.com.au