National Wastewater Testing Programme - Quarter 1 2022

Results are now available for the first quarter (2022) of nationwide wastewater testing, which covers around 75% of New Zealand’s population.

The drugs tested for are methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, MDMA and fentanyl. Both heroin and fentanyl were not detected in reportable quantities during Q1.

Key findings: January - March 2022 (Q1 2022)

• Population updates were applied to some sites in January 2022. These corrections allow for a more accurate representation of consumption within each catchment zone. This has resulted in changes to previously reported per capita consumption rates for some locations/districts.  Most notably, the population update for Northland district resulted in a 27 percent decrease in per capita consumption rates. This means the per capita results from Q1 2022 cannot be directly compared with results from previous reports.
• Social harm cost estimates have been included in this report. These are derived from the New Zealand Illicit Drug Harm Index 2020 (McFadden M, Bellamore L & MacDonald B. (2021). The New Zealand Illicit Drug Harm Index 2020: Research report. Wellington: Ministry of Health). The Drug Harm Index 2020 provides a conservative measure of the harms associated with the use of illicit drugs in New Zealand and considers both personal and community harms.

Methamphetamine

• An average of 15.5 kilograms of methamphetamine was consumed per week in Q1 2022. This was less than Q4 2021 but remains above the average quantity detected over the previous four quarters (nine percent or 1.3 kilograms).
• Per capita methamphetamine consumption was highest in Eastern district.
• The 15.5 kilograms of methamphetamine consumed equates to an estimated cost of $17.2 million in social harm per week in Q1 2022.
• Approximately $7.8 million per week was generated from methamphetamine distribution across New Zealand sample sites in Q1 2022.

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)

• An average of 7.0 kilograms of MDMA was consumed per week in Q1 2022. This was an increase when compared with Q4 2021 and was above the average quantity detected over the previous four quarters (50 percent or 2.3 kilograms).
• Of the sites tested, Southern district consumed the most MDMA per capita during Q1 2022.
• The 7.0 kilograms of MDMA consumed equates to an estimated cost of $0.97 million in social harm per week in Q1 2022.
• Approximately $1.4 million per week was generated from MDMA distribution across New Zealand sample sites in Q1 2022.

Cocaine

• An average of 0.5 kilograms of cocaine was consumed each week in Q1 2022. This was more than Q4 2021 but was below the average quantity detected over the previous four quarters (12 percent or 0.1 kilograms).
• Tāmaki Makaurau continued to consume the most cocaine per capita in Q1 2022.
• The 0.5 kilograms of cocaine consumed equates to an estimated cost of $0.15 million in social harm per week in Q1 2022.
• Approximately $0.2 million per week was generated from cocaine distribution across New Zealand sample sites in Q1 2022.