NEWS: News.com.au - 05/03/08 'Queensland - our nation's drugmaker'

Queensland - our nation's drugmaker
March 05, 2008 11:36am

QUEENSLAND seems to be the centre of the clandestine manufacture of amphetamines, supplying the nation with the illegal stimulants, a UN report says.

The report from the UN drug watchdog, the International Narcotics Control Board, found 11 per cent of the population aged 14 and older had used cannabis.

Australia also reported a high rate of amphetamine abuse.

Criminals were smuggling in precursor chemicals to manufacture amphetamines, the report says.

"In Australia, Queensland seems to be the base of (amphetamine) clandestine manufacturing, which supplies the whole country," the report said.

The abuse of cannabis and amphetamine-type stimulants in Oceania was among the highest in the world, it said.

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The report from the UN drug watchdog, the International Narcotics Control Board, found 11 per cent of the population aged 14 and older had used cannabis.

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At any rate, I have to wonder what this whole report is based on. Is it simply because there have been the most clandestine busts in QLD? While I don't doubt it's possible there are "mega" labs there providing the whole of Australia, I'd have thought it far more likely that many small scale labs would be operating in, and providing exclusively for, each individual state.

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State shuns 'drug capital' tag
March 13, 2008 - 12:09PM

Queensland Police Minister Judy Spence says a UN report that found the state was responsible for most of the amphetamine made in Australia is incorrect.

A report released last week by the UN drug watchdog, the International Narcotics Control Board, found Australia had a "high rate" of amphetamine abuse, with criminals smuggling in the precursor chemicals needed to make the drugs.

"In Australia, Queensland seems to be the base of (amphetamine) clandestine manufacturing, which supplies the whole country," the report said.

"The abuse of cannabis and amphetamine-type stimulants in Oceania is among the highest in the world."

But Ms Spence today told state parliament that police intelligence did not support the UN's findings.

"Police tell me there is no intelligence to support the suggestion in this report that Queensland is the epicentre of drug production in Australia, nor is there evidence drug producers in this state are supplying the entire country," Ms Spence said.

"In fact, intelligence suggests the vast majority of amphetamine-type products seized in large volumes in Queensland are actually sourced in NSW, particularly ecstasy."

Ms Spence said most drug labs in Queensland were small operations.

"It appears the data used in compiling this report is not specific enough to examine what size the labs are or what investigation approaches are used to identify people involved in such offences," she said.

Queensland police have busted 77 clandestine drug labs so far this financial year, Ms Spence said.

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