Methamphetamine is the illicit stimulant of choice in Australia. Countless initiatives have been employed to reduce methamphetamine use and drug-related harm. Wastewater analysis (WWA) has been used effectively as an objective measure of drug use at a population level and can be compared to indicators of harm, such as the number of drug-related fatalities. This paper attempts to describe methamphetamine use in the context of changes in levels measured in wastewater in South Australia whilst recognising considerable interventions over an 8-year period. Validated liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry methods were used to determine methamphetamine (and MDMA) levels in wastewater over an 8-year interval. The number of drug-induced deaths and driver fatalities involving methamphetamine (and MDMA) was presented and described in the context of changes in use measured by WWA. A rise in methamphetamine use according to WWA was evident up to 2017, followed by a gradual decrease to 2020 back to 2015 levels. Both driver fatalities and drug-induced deaths correlated well with use measured by WWA over the 8-year period. Multiple initiatives to curb supply, distribution and harm within the state and nationally have been implemented. The decrease in methamphetamine use after 2017 suggests that timely interventions have successfully reduced overall drug use and has led to fewer fatalities. This study shows that the response to increasing methamphetamine use in South Australia has resulted in a reversal of the upward trend in consumption and fewer drug-related fatalities.

中文翻译：

---

通过废水分析测量南澳大利亚 8 年使用甲基苯丙胺的情况下与苯丙胺类毒品相关的死亡人数

甲基苯丙胺是澳大利亚首选的非法兴奋剂。已经采取了无数举措来减少甲基苯丙胺的使用和与毒品相关的伤害。废水分析（WWA）已被有效地用作人口层面吸毒情况的客观衡量标准，并且可以与危害指标（例如与毒品相关的死亡人数）进行比较。本文试图描述南澳大利亚废水中测得的甲基苯丙胺水平变化的情况下的甲基苯丙胺使用情况，同时认识到 8 年来采取的大量干预措施。使用经过验证的液相色谱-质谱法测定废水中 8 年时间间隔内的甲基苯丙胺（和 MDMA）水平。在 WWA 测量的使用变化的背景下，介绍和描述了涉及甲基苯丙胺（和摇头丸）的药物引起的死亡和司机死亡人数。根据 WWA 的数据，截至 2017 年，甲基苯丙胺的使用量明显增加，随后逐渐减少，到 2020 年回到 2015 年的水平。驾驶员死亡和药物引起的死亡都与 WWA 在 8 年期间测量的使用情况密切相关。已经实施了多项旨在遏制州内和全国范围内的供应、分配和伤害的举措。2017 年之后甲基苯丙胺使用量的下降表明，及时的干预措施已成功减少了总体毒品使用量，并减少了死亡人数。这项研究表明，南澳大利亚对甲基苯丙胺使用量增加的反应导致消费量上升趋势的逆转和毒品相关死亡人数的减少。