Blogger’s Note: I suppose only in Australia would we see such an undertaking as the “National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Programme”. On the face of it, having the State peering into your lavatory-water might be construed as a violation of privacy – just as the State peering into the inner-workings of your body without consent is definitely illegal in most circumstances (barring accidents, illnesses and certain emergencies, etc). Even “mandatory” Covid-19 vaccinations, relied upon “consent” being coerced from the individual through a sustained legal-pressure (presenting yourself for the injection and rolling your sleeve-up was taken as implied consent – even if that cajoled individual protested). During times of necessary draconian measures – designed to protect the whole from the weaknesses of the few – “consent” was still required, albeit reduced to a rather cynical and impotent incarnation of its previous self. As the Covid emergency receded, the convention of informed “consent” re-emerged – as the State slowly relaxed, and then removed all coercive measures. Even prosecutions for non-compliance were quietly vacated.
The question is whether the taking and testing of “waste-water” is an illegal act in and of itself, that violates privacy laws? The State will use the defence that no single (named) individual was targetted, (which is true), whilst simultaneously arguing that the acquired (generic) results inform the State exactly about what itt is that every Australian citizen is doing behind closed doors. On the one-hand, the State assumes it is not breaking the law due to the broad nature of the science – whilst on the other – the State is jumping to precise conclusions about what it is (it thinks) each Australian citizen is doing within the privacy of their own life. I suspect it will be this latter assumption that the Australian State will use to bring in an entire raft of draconian measures aimed at every Australian citizen – designed to tackle a problem that may (or may not) exist – amongst (a non-defined) sample of the Australian populace. All will be punished and individual rights taken away due to the action of a few. Even so, a blind test cannot tell exactly why it is that drugs are being taken in the first place, and this raises concerns about the legal standing of the so-called “evidence”. A good quality and universally “free” medical system reduces illicit drug-taking to a minimum throughout a populaion – but the reality surely is that illicit drugs are used by individuals to numb the pain of having to live within an uncaring (and racist), capitalist society. ACW (15.8.2025)
Source: Xinhua Editor: huaxia 2025-08-15
CANBERRA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — Consumption of illicit drugs in Australia hit record-high levels in 2024, wastewater analysis has revealed.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) on Friday published the 24th report from the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Programme, which was established in 2016 to measure drug use by analyzing wastewater from sites across Australia.
According to the latest report, Australians consumed 22.2 tons of methylamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA in the 12 months to August 2024, an increase of 34 percent from the previous 12 months and the highest level of consumption of the four major illicit drugs in the program’s history.
The report said that Australians consumed a record-high 12.8 tons of methylamphetamine, also known as methamphetamine, in the year to August 2024, compared to 10.5 tons in the preceding 12 months.
Cocaine consumption increased by almost 70 percent from 4.03 tons to a record-high 6.8 tons in the same period.
ACIC Chief Executive Officer Heather Cook said in a statement that the consumed volume of methylamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA had an estimated street value of 11.5 billion Australian dollars (7.4 billion U.S. dollars), with methylamphetamine accounting for 8.9 billion Australian dollars (5.7 billion U.S. dollars).
“Serious and organized crime groups exploit Australia’s high demand for illicit drugs and are focused on maximising profit at the expense of the community’s security and wellbeing,” she said.
ACIC said its modelling suggests that increasing consumption of methylamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA will continue through to 2027, while the heroin market is not expected to change significantly for the next two years.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 