Australians spent an estimated $8.9 billion on illegal drugs in 2020, according to wastewater analysis from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
The National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program report estimates Australians consumed 5.6 tonnes of cocaine, 2.6 tonnes of MDMA, and one tonne of heroin last year - record amounts for each illicit drug.
"In a year where COVID-19 has heavily impacted Australia as a whole, it has also had a marked impact on the illicit drug market," said the chief executive of ACIC, Michael Phelan.
In the capital cities, methylamphetamine and cocaine consumption increased noticeably between August and October 2020, as cities locked down to fight off COVID-19.
The data, collected from secret sewer sites around Australia, shows NSW accounted for more than half of the nation's cocaine use.
For Sydney the data shows an estimated consumption of 1000 milligrams per thousand people every day.
In Melbourne cocaine use has been increasing steadily since 2016, spiking in June 2020 at about 900 milligrams per thousand people per day.
Melbourne consumed by far the most heroin of the capital cities, also peaking in the second half of last year with an estimated consumption of two doses per hundred people per day.
And a relatively new type of amphetamine known as Mephedrone was also recorded in samples from Melbourne in August and October last year.
The data also showed Northern Territory residents are still the nation's biggest drinkers and smokers, with Darwin reaching an estimated consumption of almost four standard drinks per person per day, and about four cigarettes per person per day.
The report sampled 56 wastewater treatment plants across Australia, estimated to cover about 13.2 million people.
Australian Associated Press
