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QLD Drug Trends 2016: Findings from the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS)

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Author: C.L. Salom, R. Alati

Resource Type: Drug Trends Jurisdictional Reports

The Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) is conducted every year in the capital city of every state and territory in Australia. Interviews are conducted with people from the general population who regularly use ecstasy and other illicit psychostimulant drugs. The EDRS is designed to identify emerging trends among a sentinel group of drug users, and to inform the health and law enforcement sectors about patterns of drug use, drug markets, relevant health issues and other special areas of interest.

In 2016, 92 regular psychostimulant users (RPU) were recruited for the Queensland EDRS. Characteristics were largely similar to previous years (i.e. typically male, heterosexual, from an English-speaking background, and had completed secondary school). The mean age of the 2016 sample (24 years) was similar to previous years (e.g. 24 years in 2015). The proportion of single participants was also similar in 2016 (63% vs 64% in 2015), with increases in those working full-time (15% vs 7% in 2015) and the median weekly income ($506 vs $420 in 2015;
p < 0.05).