NCJ Number
238493
Date Published
February 2012
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This Australian study analyzed self-reported drug use and drug market data for a sample of police detainees interviewed as part of the DUMA program (Drug Use Monitoring in Australia).
Abstract
Started in 1999, the DUMA program is Australia's largest and longest running data-collection system on drugs and offending. It obtains information on just over 4,000 alleged offenders (not yet convicted) each year across 9 locations throughout the country. Recent DUMA data indicate a decrease in the use of ecstasy among police detainees. In 2010 and 2011, only 5 percent of police detainees reported using ecstasy, a 60-percent decrease from 2009 (n = 428) when ecstasy use peaked at 11 percent. Self-report data also indicate that ecstasy was considered by users to be lower in quality and more difficult to obtain in 2011 compared to earlier years. In addition, ecstasy users reported a decrease in the number of people selling the drug. The decline in ecstasy use coincides with a reported increase in methamphetamine use. These findings are consistent with data recently released by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Center and in the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey. The factors underlying the decline in ecstasy use are likely to be complex, although there have been suggestions of a recent reductions in the supply of ecstasy, which has resulted from increased difficulties in obtaining the chemicals used in ecstasy production. The probable consequences of a supply shortage are also complex, although it should be noted that these substantial declines in ecstasy use among police detainees have occurred simultaneously with significant increases in methamphetamine use. How users respond to such market changes should be an issue for further research. 4 figures and 5 references