One of the weirdly adorable quirks about our wide, brown land is how different our cities are. Maybe it’s because there’s not that many of them and they’re a long way from one another, but each of our capitals has developed a unique and recognisable culture which manifests in many ways.
Not least, which drugs they like best.
If you were to make a cruel stereotype about Sydney you’d guess that it’s big on cocaine, being the centre of so much business and media, and an analysis of the Harbour City’s sewerage bears it out with traces of the drug more than double that of Melbourne and Brisbane.
Meanwhile, the oft-chilly Melbourne is still Australia’s heroin capital, cannabis is #1 in Hobart, and WA loves its meth. And Adelaide is just high on life, man. And then meth.
These are just some of the eye-catching results of the IBIS World Australia Industry Report, based upon a two year wastewater study looking for trace amounts of chemicals and then extrapolating to work out the amount going into the people’s actual bodies.
“It is astounding that Australians waste over $9.3 billion a year on drugs. This is money people could be spending on legitimate goods for themselves and their families,” commission chief executive Michael Phelan said in a statement accompanying the report, suggesting that… um, he thinks a greater emphasis on consumer capitalism will finally win the war on drugs, we guess?
And while some stereotypes were reinforced, there were a few surprises: MDMA use is down, though still popular in Darwin – and the NT has the second highest rate of cocaine use. Who knew?
Also, we’d just like emphasise that you don’t need toilet water to have a good time. JUST SAY NO.