Adolescents in drug and alcohol treatment programs who reported taking methamphetamine doubled in the five years to 2014, research published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday found.
The study is based on surveys with 865 adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years who were in residential drug and alcohol treatment programs in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory between 2009 and 2014.
Methamphetamine, commonly known as “ice” and “speed”, was the only drug to show an upward trend, with 10.8% of adolescents saying it was their greatest drug of concern in 2009 compared with 48.4% in 2014. Those who said they were using methamphetamine at the time of being admitted jumped from 28.8% in 2009 to 59.4% in 2014.
While the adolescents also recorded high levels of cannabis use (85.2%), tobacco use (72.7%), and alcohol use (64.1%), methamphetamine was the only drug to have shown a significant upward trend over time.
Lead researcher on the study, Dr Sally Nathan from the University of NSW school of public health and community medicine, said the findings highlighted the need for greater funding to rehabilitation programs and support for adolescents after they left treatment so that they did not relapse.
Of the 321 adolescents who reported current methamphetamine use, those reporting inhaling smoke or vapour increased from 12.5% in to 85.5% by 2014.
“Different forms of methamphetamine were not recorded; however, ice is commonly inhaled, which suggests that the main form used by participants has changed,” the study said. It suggests both ice use and methamphetamine use generally is increasing.
Researchers found associations between methamphetamine use and number of places lived and enrolment in a special class at school, suggesting that young people who may have learning difficulties or unstable accommodation may be at a higher risk of methamphetamine use or that use may result in learning issues and unstable accommodation.
The study participants came from Ted Noffs Foundation residential drug and alcohol treatment programs. Drug and alcohol treatment program director, Mark Ferry, said it was clear the increase in use was also due to methamphetamine becoming more available as the price went down and its manufacture increased.
About 40% of methamphetamine patients were referred to the centres through the juvenile justice system and courts, he said.
“Parents are also very good at finding these services and referring their children to them,” Ferry said.
“The problem is, drugs are fun, at least at the beginning. But with methamphetamine the transition time between it not being a problem and it becoming a serious problem can be quite short. The other thing is after being drug free for a couple of weeks, eating properly and sleeping, they feel better and can go back to it.
“We need support for adolescents after they leave treatment.”
A separate study published in the same journal on Monday found methamphetamine residue in the wastewater of a coastal city in south-east Queensland at levels almost five times what they were in 2009, suggesting a corresponding increase in methamphetamine use.
Prof Wayne Hall, from the centre for youth substance abuse research at the University of Queensland, and a team of researchers analysed 498 wastewater samples drawn from a coastal metropolitan city in south-east Queensland between 2009 and 2015, and 712 samples from a major inland regional city between 2010 and 2015.
Levels in both areas increased significantly, 4.8 times in the metropolitan area between 2009 and 2015, and 3.4 times in the regional city between 2010 and 2015.
Hall said it was “very clear” that both methamphetamine and use of the more potent from, crystal methamphetamine [ice], were on the rise.
While the data from the study could not show whether methamphetamine consumption had increased because there were more new users, or because current users were consuming higher doses of a purer drug, data was emerging from other studies showing use was on the rise, he said.
“It’s exactly what you’d expect to find when you have a drug that is readily available and cheap,” he said.
The findings were also similar to wastewater findings from South Australia that detected increases in traces of the drug between 2010 and 2013, and consistent with increases in the purity of methamphetamine seized by police, arrests for methamphetamine use and supply, and the number of people seeking treatment for related problems, the study found.
