PARTY-DRUG USE RISING 'BUT NOT AN EPIDEMIC'

The use of "party drugs" such as ecstasy and amphetamines is on the rise in
New Zealand, with one in 10 people aged 20 to 24 using ecstasy, two
national surveys show.

But the use of party drugs is nowhere near an "epidemic", said Dr Chris
Wilkins, who led the National Drug Survey undertaken by a research unit at
Auckland University.

The random surveys of 5500 people aged between 15 and 45 found the use of
methamphetamine had jumped from 2.9 per cent in 1998 to 5 per cent last year.

In the same time, the use of ecstasy by the survey's subjects had more than
doubled, from 1.5 per cent to 3.4 per cent.

By comparison, 20 per cent of the people surveyed had used marijuana in the
previous year, and half had tried it.

The biggest rise in ecstasy use was among people in their twenties.

Dr Wilkins, of the university's Alcohol and Public Health Research Unit,
which carried out the surveys, said: "Although the use of ecstasy more than
doubled between 1998 and 2001, use is still confined to a small proportion
of the population when compared to cannabis and alcohol.

"Ecstasy is now the most popular hallucinogen in New Zealand, exceeding the
use of LSD and magic mushrooms.

"Although these increases are significant, they are not the epidemic
increases that some commentators have been expecting based on the cases
that have featured in the media."

While the use of party drugs was increasing, their prevalence had to be
kept in perspective, he said.

Other party drugs such as ketamine, GHB and rush (amyl nitrate) were used
by less than 1 per cent of the people interviewed.