Aussies #1 in Ecstasy Use
Posted by Childress on June 3, 2006
A "culture of acceptance" has led to Australia becoming the world leader in per capita Ecstasy use, and second in global meth use. From The Advertiser:
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre figures … showed in the past year, 500,000 Australians used amphetamines – including ecstasy – with 73,000 of them now dependent on the drug. Up to 66 per cent of users also took the more potent crystalline form, called ice.
The inquiry heard a United Nations study put Australians at the top of the international list for the consumption of MDMA, also known as ecstasy, per head of population and second for amphetamine, or speed, use.
"We have developed a culture of acceptance of these types of harmful substances," NSW drug squad Det-Insp Paul Willingham told the inquiry into synthetic drugs.
That may explain why there have been 110 Ecstasy-related deaths in Australia in the last three years.
