DRUG PRICES RISE AS SUPPLY DRIES UP

The price of illicit drugs has soared since drug house legislation was
introduced, police said last night.

The laws have hit the price of cannabis the hardest.

A pound (0.45kg) of cannabis has risen from about $3800 to about $4500 in
the past few months.

Drug squad boss Senior Sergeant Les Martin said the rise suggested the
availability of the drug in the Territory had been reduced.

He said several pro-active drug squad operations, and increased powers that
the drug house laws had given police, were in part responsible.

"Just recently there's been an increase in the price of cannabis in bulk
amounts of $500 to $1000 a pound," Sen-Sgt Martin said.

"It means that supply might be down.

"We're finding the legislation is quite successful."

The NT Drug Trend 2003 report released last week found that 20 per cent of
drug users surveyed were finding cannabis "difficult" to obtain, and only
43 per cent of users surveyed in 2003 said it was "very easy" to obtain --
down from 72 per cent in 2001.

The survey also showed a greater reliance on friends to supply users with
drugs -- rather than dealers.

Sixty per cent of users surveyed in 2001 went to street dealers or their
dealer's home for their regular source of cannabis.

In the latest survey, that was down to 34 per cent.

The number of users turning to a network of friends to get the drug had
almost doubled from 23 per cent in 2001 to 42 per cent in 2003.

Since the laws were introduced in August 2002, there have been 83 first
drug house notices, 10 second notices, and five third notices issued on
residential properties across the Territory.

Only two properties -- at Alice Springs and Darwin -- have been declared
Drug Houses under the Act.

Drugs seized from properties where drug notices were issued were valued at
$386,490 and included more than 415g of amphetamines, 41 cannabis plants
and 48 tabs of LSD.