Declines in methamphetamine supply and demand in Australia during the covid-19 pandemic

The Australian Institute of Criminology has published a report titled “Declines in methamphetamine supply and demand in Australia during the covid-19 pandemic.” The report uses data from the “Drug Use Monitoring in Australia” (DUMA) program which involves urine drug screening of watch house detainees to track trends in substance use. The report shows that covid-19 appears to have disrupted availability of methamphetamine to varying degrees around Australia. Despite the title of the report, the research didn’t consider actual demand for methamphetamine. Instead, it looked at frequency and quantity of recent methamphetamine use, which was found to have declined in most jurisdictions. People also reported that methamphetamine quality had declined during the pandemic period, and price had increased. This indicates that supply of methamphetamine has been impacted by the pandemic. 

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