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Drug use monitoring in Australia: Drug use among police detainees, 2020

Data from the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program during 2020 indicated that:

Overall, 45 percent of police detainees reported using methamphetamine in the past 30 days, but methamphetamine use declined as restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic were introduced. Past-month heroin use also declined, from nine percent in January–February to five percent in October–November.
Respondents perceived methamphetamine as extremely available and high in quality during January–February. Ratings of availability and quality were lower in April–June and July–August, before recovering in October–November. Ratings of heroin availability and quality also decreased during the pandemic.
Almost half of the detainees surveyed reported using cannabis (47%) in the past 30 days. Fewer detainees reported past-month use of benzodiazepines (21%), cocaine (8%) or ecstasy (5%).