FDS Insight Newsletter Jul-Sep 2020

22 having access to money or checking contacts on social media. Barrett said that she expected to see some changes in consumption repeated globally, for example a decrease in so- called party drugs such as MDMA because of the forced closure of nightclubs and festivals, but the illicit drug market in Australia and New Zealand was particularly susceptible to market shocks because of the closure of borders to traditional supply markets such as China and south-east Asia. ‘Obviously countries across the world are affected differently by global supply chains and because Australia and New Zealand are much more isolated we do tend to be more affected by supply shocks,’ she said. Barrett, like other addiction specialists, said there were already some isolated and anecdotal reports of users having trouble accessing heroin, but as yet no hard data. Many experts fear the already-stretched treatment sector would be unable to respond to demand in a heroin drought, which might also push drug users onto other substances such as the prescription opioid Fentanyl. ‘People might say that’s a win in terms of drugs not being able to get in to the country [but] the flip side is that for those continuing to demand drugs like heroin and methamphetamine they will most likely turn to other substances,’ Barrett said. ‘The concern there is what are those other substances and are they worse in terms of harms than what they were getting before? These are some of the concerns we have in this period.’ She said the survey would also consider whether the Australian market for illicit drugs had changed as a result of the pandemic, including whether more people were accessing the dark net, and how consumption had changed across age cohorts. ‘We’re in this period where the Covid- 19 restrictions have affected really large parts of our lives, but for many of us that’s different depending on whether you’re a young person living with housemates, for example, or in a family situation with children who need to be home schooled,’ she said. FDS welcomes your ideas. Please email them to Jane at jane@fds.ngo.org.au