In brief: NZ’s drug numbers

NewsHub 20 April 2016
Family First Comment: And to think there’s discussion going on about legalising and going soft on this activity!

Massey University’s just revealed its latest annual Illicit Drug Monitoring System study.

It’s based on interviews with more than 300 frequent illegal drug users and captures the 2014 New Zealand drug scene.

10 Fast Facts

• Seventy percent reported fewer people were using synthetic cannabis in 2014.
• Fifty-five percent thought access to synthetic cannabinoids had become ‘more difficult’ in 2014.
• The proportion of Alcohol and Drug Helpline callers seeking help for synthetic cannabis fell from 9 percent in 2013/14 to 2 percent in 2014/15.
• The availability of cannabis declined slightly from 2006 to 2014, including a sharp decline from 2013 to 2014.
• Seventy-two percent report increased buying and selling of drugs via social media and encrypted websites.
• Seventy-six percent said they could purchase methamphetamine within an hour in 2014, up from 51 percent in 2011.
• Twenty-nine percent of meth users experienced a ‘drug overdose’ in 2014, up from 15 percent in 2013.
• Nearly two-thirds of drug users admitted doing something under the influence of drugs which they later regretted.
• Forty-six percent of the injecting drug users, 42 percent of the methamphetamine users and 19 percent of the ecstasy users had suffered from a mental illness.
• Fifty-three percent of the frequent injecting drug users and 20 percent of the frequent methamphetamine users reported they needed ‘a lot’ of help to reduce their drug use in 2014.
  http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/in-brief-nzs-drug-numbers-2016041922#axzz46KEG8P3a

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