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Speaker 1: We've got some new stats around drugs. Police believe meth

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Speaker 1: has become a nineteen million dollar problem in this country.

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Speaker 1: The nineteen million dollars is a month. By the way,

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Speaker 1: we're getting through seventeen and a half kilos of the

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Speaker 1: stuff each week. Cocaine usage is also it's also on

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Speaker 1: the rise. Were such a cool country, aren't we? Drug

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Speaker 1: Detection Agency CEO Glenn Dobson's with us. Glenn, very good

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Speaker 1: morning to you. You might like, what does that mean?

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Speaker 1: Seventeen and a half kilos? I can do it in flowers.

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Speaker 1: That a lot of myth. Is everyone on myth? I mean,

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Speaker 1: what the hell's going on here?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a huge amount of drug I mean we're

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Speaker 2: seeing at TDA we've seen an increase in drug use

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Speaker 2: as well. And it's interesting that the report talks about coke.

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Speaker 2: We've seen a big increase in that lately as well.

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Speaker 2: And drugs like any commodity that they change in fashion,

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Speaker 2: they change in tastes, and the supply will get pushed

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Speaker 2: on demand and that the use will increase.

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Speaker 1: Who's on the myth?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Look, if you read the report, it's high in

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Speaker 2: the rural areas. It's certainly not a drug anymore that

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Speaker 2: is just on a lower socio econo or the challenge

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Speaker 2: parts of society. But certainly it crosses all classes of

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Speaker 2: society and it doesn't differentiate from that perspective.

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Speaker 1: Explain that to me, because you know that meth is

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Speaker 1: a trip to hell and possibly no return, and there

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Speaker 1: must be somebody with half a brain that knows that

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Speaker 1: before they use it. Or have I just lost touch completely?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, common sense would make you think that wouldn't. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 2: common sense is lacking in some of the decisions around

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Speaker 2: the use of drugs, and potentially also some of the

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Speaker 2: policy decisions as well. You know, back in twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 2: previous governments made some decisions around softening the enforcement approach

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Speaker 2: on drugs, taking a pure health approach, and I think

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Speaker 2: we're starting see the consequences of that now.

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Speaker 1: And they tell me coax all the high end stuff.

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Speaker 1: It's all the businessmen and the business ladies and the

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Speaker 1: you know, living out by the sea having a good time.

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Speaker 1: Is that true or is that just an urban myth?

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Speaker 2: No. Look, maybe back in the eighteens and nineties that

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Speaker 2: was the case. It was the high end, white collar people.

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Speaker 2: But certainly now it is right across the board. You know,

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Speaker 2: we're seeing reports out of Australia that cashed up tradees

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Speaker 2: are using a hell a lot more coke than they

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Speaker 2: have previously because it's the drug of a professional moment.

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Speaker 1: And so they would plead cost of living crisis as well.

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Speaker 1: But they can still afford all the drugs, can they? No?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I guess that goes against the whole

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Speaker 2: Princeville the moment that we do have a cost of

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Speaker 2: living crisis, and certainly that cost of the crisis makes

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Speaker 2: pill make some dangerous decisions, makes people look for escape

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Speaker 2: them at times. But look, education is key people. Look,

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Speaker 2: I really applaud the statement that came out from the

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Speaker 2: report that said no drug use is safe drug use

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Speaker 2: and the education people need to know the dangers of

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Speaker 2: the drugs. They need to know the dangers of the consequences.

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Speaker 2: And I think this report is great to show the

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Speaker 2: cost but also at hugely under estimates. I suspect the

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Speaker 2: costs a lot higher than what's in this report.

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Speaker 1: To Glenn, appreciate your expertise as always, Glenn Dobson, the

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Speaker 1: Drug Detection Agency. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast,

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Speaker 1: listen live to news talks there'd be from sixteen weekdays,

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