Most respondents to annual poll say it has become easier to access drugs

An annual survey of drug users across Australia has found illicit substances like ecstasy and cocaine are becoming more accessible.

Transcript

00:00The latest survey from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre revealed several trends

00:06this year.

00:07One of the biggest being participants reporting perceived easier access to some drugs, including

00:12ecstasy and cocaine.

00:14The survey, which used a national sample of 740 people, also found that non-prescribed

00:18use of legal drugs for ADHD was also seen to be increasing.

00:23Non-prescribed ketamine use remained stable, with just over half of participants reporting

00:27recent use, but that also represented the highest rate of use recorded since monitoring

00:32began.

00:33And cocaine use remained high, with 80% of the sample reporting past six-month use.

00:38The survey also found that almost two-thirds of participants said they had heard of naloxone,

00:43a life-saving opioid overdose reversal agent.

00:46However, only 6% of participants reported actually obtaining naloxone in the past year.

00:52The research centre says given substances such as cocaine and ketamine have recently

00:56been found to contain opioids and in some cases have contributed to severe overdoses,

01:02there is a need to continue increasing awareness around naloxone and its uptake.

01:06The release of this report follows NSW police just this week arresting six men over a major

01:12criminal network which was allegedly involved in the distribution of 1.2 tonnes of cocaine

01:17across Sydney over a four-month period, which police said equates to about six million separate

01:23drug deals.