A University of Otago researcher says students played a role in the city’s rankings.
Figures for the first three months of the year, released by New Zealand Police, indicate that people in the South are consuming MDMA (also called molly or ecstasy) at a significantly higher rate than the national average.
MDMA is a stimulant used recreationally for feelings of euphoria and increased empathy.
In the south, an estimated 538 mg of MDMA per 1,000 people per day was recorded.
The national average was 300 mg, the figures show.
Wastewater from the greater Dunedin area is treated at the Tahuna plant, which led the country for the detected share of MDMA.
The popular party drug made up 82% of all drugs discovered there.
The second highest percentages were found in Queenstown (66%) and at Moa Point in Wellington (57%).
Dunedin wastewater was also sampled at Green Island, where MDMA use (52%) was lower, but still higher than the relative proportion of methamphetamine consumed (48%).
MDMA culture researcher and PhD candidate Jai Whelan of the University of Otago said the results of the latest study “were not really surprising, to be honest”.
Nationally, there was a decline in overall drug use in 2021, likely caused in part by Covid-19 restrictions, and now it is adjusting back to where it had been, Mr Whelan said.
He definitely thought Dunedin’s students played a part in bringing them to the top of the South for MDMA use, aided by Queenstown’s party culture.
Differences in nightlife and demographics could explain the divergent patterns of drug use in Invercargill, where methamphetamine, like the rest of the country, was found in higher concentrations than other drugs.
Although the data presented methamphetamine and MDMA side by side, they were not commonly used as substitutes for each other because they had different effects and meth was significantly more expensive, Mr. Whelan said.
MDMA use was associated with events and consumption had seasonal and weekend peaks.
Methamphetamine use was more consistent, he said.
Harm reduction initiatives — including drug control, needle exchange programs and education — have been important to help protect those who happened to use drugs, and the initiatives would hopefully continue to grow, Mr Whelan said.
The statistics showed that the Southern District also had the lowest amount of methamphetamine use per capita of all 10 precincts.
Of the four wastewater testing sites in the South, only Invercargill reported consuming more methamphetamine than MDMA.
In Invercargill, 74% of the drugs detected were methamphetamine, by far the highest of the four southern areas surveyed.
Of the 44 watersheds sampled nationally, 23 registered a higher proportion of methamphetamine use.
The National Wastewater Testing Program is funded from the proceeds of the Crime Fund, administered by the Department of Justice.
It looks for methamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.
Neither heroin nor fentanyl were detected in reportable amounts this year and the highest percentage of cocaine detected was 5% at Auckland’s North Shore.