Illicit drug consumption (wastewater)
/v1/australia/health/drug-use5¢ per callEstimated kilograms of methylamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and heroin consumed each financial year from 2016-17 to 2024-25, for Australia and each state and territory, measured from sewage. Modelled estimates.
Coverage: Australia and all 8 states and territories; financial years 2016-17 to 2024-25. Current to 2025-06-30. Full description, field list and method: /v1/datasets/drug-use.
Authorization
Request
The only values you send. Fields under Responses below are what comes back — you never pass those.
Query parameters
fieldsstringoptionalComma-separated subset of: meth_kg, cocaine_kg, mdma_kg, heroin_kg, total_kg. Omit for all.
fromstringoptionalFirst period to include: 2020, 2020-Q3, 2020-07 or 2020-07-01.
tostringoptionalLast period to include, same formats as `from`.
Responses
Successful Response
datasetstringalways returnedDataset slug; describe it with /v1/datasets/{slug}.
levelstringalways returnedsuburb, lga or block.
areastringalways returnedCanonical name (or mesh-block code) of the area answered.
period_typestringalways returnedsnapshot, year, financial_year, quarter or month.
as_ofstring · datealways returnedDate the dataset is current to. Values are never withheld for age; check this instead.
modelledbooleanalways returnedTrue when the figures are estimates from a model rather than counts or measurements.
fieldsarray of DatasetFieldSeriesalways returned/v1/australia/health/drug-usecurl --request GET \
--url 'https://api.microburbs.com.au/v1/australia/health/drug-use' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer test'{
"data": {
"dataset": "drug-use",
"level": "australia",
"area": "australia",
"period_type": "financial_year",
"as_of": "2025-06-30",
"modelled": true,
"fields": [
{
"field": "meth_kg",
"name": "Methylamphetamine consumed",
"unit": "kg",
"values": [
{
"period": "2022-23",
"period_start": "2022-07-01",
"value": 10585
},
{
"period": "2023-24",
"period_start": "2023-07-01",
"value": 12815
},
{
"period": "2024-25",
"period_start": "2024-07-01",
"value": 15791
}
]
},
{
"field": "cocaine_kg",
"name": "Cocaine consumed",
"unit": "kg",
"values": [
{
"period": "2022-23",
"period_start": "2022-07-01",
"value": 4037
},
{
"period": "2023-24",
"period_start": "2023-07-01",
"value": 6835
},
{
"period": "2024-25",
"period_start": "2024-07-01",
"value": 7985
}
]
},
{
"field": "mdma_kg",
"name": "MDMA consumed",
"unit": "kg",
"values": [
{
"period": "2022-23",
"period_start": "2022-07-01",
"value": 962
},
{
"period": "2023-24",
"period_start": "2023-07-01",
"value": 1430
},
{
"period": "2024-25",
"period_start": "2024-07-01",
"value": 1711
}
]
}
]
}
}About this dataset
Australia and all 8 states and territories; financial years 2016-17 to 2024-25. Current to 2025-06-30; refreshed yearly. These figures are modelled estimates.
What it is
Annual consumption of four illicit drugs estimated from the traces people excrete into the sewer, scaled up to the whole population: methylamphetamine (ice), cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy) and heroin. One row per drug per year for Australia and for each of the eight states and territories.
What it shows
Estimated weight consumed in kilograms per financial year (July to June) for each of the four drugs, and the four-drug total, for nine years: 2016-17 to 2024-25. The financial year's period is its first day (1 July). State figures add up to the national figure.
Why use it
The most objective public read of illicit drug use: it does not depend on people admitting to it, so it shows real trends and real differences between states. Useful for health and community-service planning, policy analysis, journalism and place stories, for example how cocaine use in New South Wales has doubled since 2016-17, or that methylamphetamine reached a record in 2024-25.
How it is built
Sewage from treatment plants covering about 57 percent of the population is sampled over several collection weeks a year, drug residues are measured, and the result is scaled to each state and the nation by population. Figures are estimates, not counts, and move with which plants and weeks are sampled; the first heroin year rests on one collection period. This dataset is published at state and national level only: results are not available for suburbs, postcodes or councils. Doses per person and the nicotine and alcohol estimates are published only as charts, so they are not included; kilograms are not adjusted for state population, so divide by population when comparing states.
Fields
| Field | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
meth_kgMethylamphetamine consumed | kg | Estimated kilograms of methylamphetamine (ice, speed) consumed in the financial year. |
cocaine_kgCocaine consumed | kg | Estimated kilograms of cocaine consumed in the financial year. |
mdma_kgMDMA consumed | kg | Estimated kilograms of MDMA (ecstasy) consumed in the financial year. |
heroin_kgHeroin consumed | kg | Estimated kilograms of heroin consumed in the financial year. |
total_kgFour-drug total consumed | kg | Sum of the four drugs above. |