Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with ACIC Principal Advisor Drugs Shane Neilson about a report today on Territorians being the biggest drinkers in the country

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Katie spoke with ACIC Principal Advisor Drugs Shane Neilson about a report today on Territorians being the biggest drinkers in the country · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now we do know that the latest Australian Wastewater report's
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: been released and I think we're all wondering exactly what
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: it sees about the Northern Territory. Now joining me on
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  Speaker 1: the line to tell us a little bit more is
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  Speaker 1: the ace IC Principal Advisor of Drugs, Shane Nielsen.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Shane, Hi, how are you very well?
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  Speaker 1: Now? For those out there wondering what the ACIC stands for,
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  Speaker 1: it is the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Shane.
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  Speaker 1: What do these latest wastewater results really show us about
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it's an interesting picture and also a mixed picture.
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  Speaker 3: What it shows. For example, and this has been the
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  Speaker 3: case for some time now that in Darwin and regional
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  Speaker 3: areas of the territory more alcohol and nicotine is consumed
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  Speaker 3: than anywhere else in the country. And you know that's
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  Speaker 3: been the case for some time now. But there's also
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  Speaker 3: so been a concerning increase in consumption of methyl and fetamine, right,
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  Speaker 3: and that's been happening for some time now, and certainly
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  Speaker 3: in the case of Darwin since June twenty twenty, and
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  Speaker 3: also in regional areas since August twenty twenty To increase
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  Speaker 3: your consumption of methyline fatamine is never a good thing.
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  Speaker 2: What kind of increase are we talking here? Is it?
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  Speaker 2: And you know, how are you able to actually detect that?
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  Speaker 3: Through some clever science. The wastewater is monitored every two
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  Speaker 3: months in Darwin and every four months in regional areas,
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  Speaker 3: and essentially when the substance is detected, they're able to
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  Speaker 3: work out the concentration and that tells you how much
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  Speaker 3: has been consumed in the population. And so that's why
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  Speaker 3: we've got a fairly reliable understand standing of levels of
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  Speaker 3: use yep.
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  Speaker 1: And does it give you sort of you know, does
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  Speaker 1: it give you more of an idea as well about
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  Speaker 1: the types of suburbs or is it just more broadly
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  Speaker 1: like the Darwin area or Palmerston and then you know,
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  Speaker 1: heading out more regional.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously, with the way that.
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  Speaker 3: We do the waste water analysis, it gives you an
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  Speaker 3: idea within the population as opposed to drilling down to
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  Speaker 3: do small local areas. We can determine, for example, a
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  Speaker 3: regional city or town, but in terms of Darwin itself
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  Speaker 3: at the moment, the way we do it, we don't
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  Speaker 3: break it down to local areas.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and so it's also obviously showing us that you
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  Speaker 1: know that when it comes to our alcohol and nicotine consumption,
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  Speaker 1: it's really quite high.
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  Speaker 3: Yes it is. It's well above the national average for
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  Speaker 3: both of the substances, both within Darwin and in regional
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  Speaker 3: more than territory and Shane.
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  Speaker 2: Do we have a situation here with these types of results.
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  Speaker 1: Does it help the government or does it help our
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  Speaker 1: police force or sort of help in any way when
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: it comes to trying to battle some of these issues.
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  Speaker 3: Very much. So we share the information openly with the
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  Speaker 3: police and also health agencies and other agencies which respond
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  Speaker 3: to drug problems, and we give them as much detail
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  Speaker 3: as we can about the levels of consumption in particular areas,
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  Speaker 3: and then we work with them in terms of targeting
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  Speaker 3: people who are supplying the community. But also what we
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  Speaker 3: do is then from the health point of view, those
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  Speaker 3: agencies also can look at treatment and other agencies can
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  Speaker 3: look at education to try to stop people taking the drugs.
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  Speaker 1: So when it comes to just to go back to
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  Speaker 1: the methane fishermine, when it comes to the methane fetamine,
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  Speaker 1: obviously we've the increase in Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: Have we also seen an increase in other parts of
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  Speaker 2: the territory.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, certainly regional areas as well, and you know you
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  Speaker 3: can trace it back to the middle of twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, right.
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  Speaker 1: I find that quite fascinating, and you know, it is
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  Speaker 1: something we very often obviously see police statements come out
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  Speaker 1: about people being arrested when it comes to you know,
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  Speaker 1: drugs and dealing drugs and supplying drugs. But then to
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  Speaker 1: actually see that evidence of a greater use of drugs
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  Speaker 1: within our wastewater system, or you know, the evidence of
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  Speaker 1: it in the wastewater, it makes you wonder sort of,
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  Speaker 1: you know, how broadly some of these drugs are being
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  Speaker 1: used and some of us don't even realize.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's the issue, you know, And this is
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  Speaker 3: why we release the reports publicly every four months, because
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  Speaker 3: then we can have the conversation with everyone who's got
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  Speaker 3: an interest in this.
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  Speaker 2: And I know that that.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously, the ACIC has described methamphetamine or ice use as
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  Speaker 1: a wicked problem because it is it was both imported
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  Speaker 1: and made here.
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  Speaker 2: Is that part of.
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  Speaker 1: The problem as well that you know, I know, with
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  Speaker 1: some drugs, obviously you see news reports that it's being
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  Speaker 1: imported from other places around the world, but with something
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  Speaker 1: like ice that really are the reality is that there's
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  Speaker 1: people using it in regional parts of Australia as well
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  Speaker 1: because it's something that they're easily able to get their
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  Speaker 1: hands on.
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  Speaker 3: That is precisely the problem with methylne fatamine. It is
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  Speaker 3: that mix. Like we think that up to or around
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  Speaker 3: about thirty percent of the methylne fatamine that's consumed in
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  Speaker 3: this country is made here, and that makes it so
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  Speaker 3: much more difficult, you know, when you mix the domestic
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  Speaker 3: manufacture with what is imported.
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  Speaker 1: Any other interesting you know, pieces of information that you're
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  Speaker 1: able to sort of gleam about the Northern Territory from
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  Speaker 1: that way.
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  Speaker 2: Water Well, the other.
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  Speaker 3: Thing that was quite interesting was in relation to cannabis.
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  Speaker 3: What we found there was regional areas of the Northern
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  Speaker 3: Territory were totally different to what was happening in Darwin. Like,
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  Speaker 3: cannabis in regional areas of the Northern Territory was at
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  Speaker 3: a reasonably constant level, But what we found in Darwin
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  Speaker 3: was there were huge variations in consumption. As recently as
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  Speaker 3: February of this year there was a record low of
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  Speaker 3: consumption and then in June of this year there was
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  Speaker 3: a record high consumption. So there are large variations in
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  Speaker 3: the cannabis market in Darwin in particular, and that's something
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  Speaker 3: that will probably look to discuss with the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 3: Police to see if they can provide us with some
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  Speaker 3: understanding around why that might be.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is interesting stuff and you know, interesting to
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  Speaker 1: see the different times of.
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  Speaker 2: The year that there's that change.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, there is, and this is something that we will
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  Speaker 3: explore further.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Shane, I really appreciate your time this morning and
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  Speaker 1: talking us through some of the information and you know,
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  Speaker 1: well gleaming a bit of light I think you'd say
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  Speaker 1: onto some of the drug use as well that obviously
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  Speaker 1: is happening in the Northern Territory that for many of
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  Speaker 1: us we're unaware of.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks a lot, Cattie, it's really enjoy talking.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you Shane Nielsen, the ac I S principal advisor there,
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  Speaker 1: the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission's principal advisor when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to drugs and really interesting stuff. The Australian Wastewater Report
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  Speaker 1: really showing that the Northern Territory has got the highest
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: average consumption of alcohol and nicotine in the country. But
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  Speaker 1: then when you talk about the use of the myth
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  Speaker 1: and fetamine drug. You know, pretty ordinary really, I think
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  Speaker 1: you'd have to say to find that here in the territory,
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  Speaker 1: we're seeing that increase