AMPHETAMINES NOW TOUGHEST CHALLENGE

An alarming rise in the use and illegal importation of amphetamines
can be partly attributed to last year's crackdown on the heroin
trade, an analysis of drug crime has found.

It found the amphetamine market was the toughest challenge facing
police in fighting drugs and would remain so for years to come. But
the heroin shortage had also contributed to a significant drop in
overdose deaths and encouraged more people to seek treatment.

The Australian Illicit Drug Report 2000-01, released by the
Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence, pools data from
law-enforcement agencies across the country and provides an analysis
of trends.

It singled out methylamphetamine, a potent amphetamine-type
stimulant, as the biggest menace, with warnings that this was likely
to remain the case for several years. A record 83.4 kilograms of
methylamphetamine has been seized by customs during the past year -
almost 10 times the amount detected in 1999-2000. The batch included
79 kilograms of purified crystalline methylamphetamine, known as
"ice," an innovation from South-East Asia that agencies had predicted
would reach Australia.

However, most of the amphetamine in Australia was produced within its
borders, with outlaw motorcycle gangs heavily involved.

The drug was manufactured in clandestine laboratories by converting
medication, such as Sudafed, which contained the substance
pseudoephedrine.

The report found that restrictions placed on the sale of Sudafed had
led to an increase in armed robberies and other crimes, as gangs
tried to get raw materials by other means.

The use of cocaine and prescription drugs was also on the rise.
Bureau chairman Commissioner Malcolm Hyde said the report showed the
benefits of reducing the availability of heroin and stressed that the
heroin shortage was the not sole reason for the surge in amphetamine
use.

"There's been increasing use of amphetamines over the last few years
in any event," he said. "Many (drug) users are poly-users and have a
drug of choice and some of them have gone over to amphetamines
because of the heroin shortage."

But he said it was wrong to suggest drug users had simply been
"displaced" from heroin to amphetamines.

"Those who wish to use that as an excuse for not doing anything will
trot that out. But here it isn't displacement, because some people
have stopped heroin and gone into treatment."