Chris Wilkins: Massey University drug researcher on the spike in meth usage

A massive spike in meth use is being linked to a change in global shopping habits.   

Christopher Luxon has asked ministers to look into meth use, after annual wastewater results show a 96% increase in consumption last year compared to 2023. 

Massey University drug researcher Chris Wilkins told Mike Hosking it's likely a case of both people using more, and more people using.  

He says the increase represents the changes to the drug market, which is moving from a brick-and-mortar store, to a global online platform. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Super depressing news around drugs. I'm here to tell you
new police annual wastewater drug testing ninety six percent spike
in meth seven hundred and thirty two kilos of the stuff.
It's gone to one point four tons last year. Massive
drug researcher Chris Wilkins is with us. Chris, very good
morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yep, good morning mate.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Different people or the same people doing a lot more drugs?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Well, that's one of the big questions. I think it's
a little bit of both. But certainly the price has
gone down and the availability is higher. Sode expect your
regular users are using more, unfortunately.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
And do we know if it's I've given up the
coke for the meth or the weed for the meth,
or we don't know that either.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
This is predominantly meth. So cocaine went down a little bit.
And this just represents the changes in the drug market
that we're seeing when we were moving from a local
brick and mortar store to a global online platform, and
the kind of changes people have seen in the retail
world and the legal economy that's coming to the drug

(01:01):
market at the.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Moment unreal and obviously this is wastewater so we don't
know the minutia. But is it gangs? Do we know
if it's gangs? Mainly gangs.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Gangs are playing their part, But as I said, really
we're drug trafficking is now leveraging off the digital world.
So there's been changes and all the different levels of
the market from production all the way to retail where
they're leveraging of social media platforms. So it's a real
changing environment now and I think we've got to accept

(01:33):
that and start to reconceptualize what a drug market's about.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Are the police behind the eight ball on this? Are
they on top of this in an ee way, shape
or form or not.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Well, their job is to respond to the effects, so
things like greater wastewater, declining prices. But I think there's
a real challenge about distinguishing between effects and root causes
what's driving these changes, and that takes a bit more
of analysis about knowing how that market's changed, as I said,
changing from that bricks and water to this digital platform

(02:05):
and large scale industrial production, and that takes a bit
of analysis.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Are we a drug eduld country? I mean, do we
compare ourselves to other countries in terms of tonnage in
the water.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Well, it depends on what chrug we're talking about. So
if we're talking about metham fedom are very much high
up there. But of course we have really low reels
of heroin use, which is a really great thing, and
cocaine is very low. So it's a little bit of both.
But I think we're in the eye of the storm
a little bit in the sense of that we're part

(02:39):
of a region that's now under a lot of competition
for drug manufacture forth and fedamine macnufacture from Southeast Asia
and Central America. So there's a real price war now
going on in this area of the world.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yes, all right, Chris preciate it no Chris Wilkins, who
is a drug researcher at Massive University, World hope.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
For more from them my Casking Breakfast. Listen live to
News Talk Set B from six am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.