the study confirmed wide differences in drug use around the world.
for example, methamphetamine use prevailed in cities in north america, australia, new zealand and south korea, with average consumption far exceeding that of cities sampled in eastern europe.
still, there were methamphetamine “hot spots” in eastern europe, including slovakia, czech republic and eastern germany. as well, consumption of the drug was expanding in the north and centre of europe.
cocaine was found to be the dominant drug in south america.
the drug also dominated in southern and western europe. in fact, there was an surge in its use over the seven years of the study.
high use of cocaine and amphetamine was detected in the netherlands and belgium, and consumption of amphetamine rose in many northern european countries during the survey period.
ecstasy didn’t dominate the drug landscape anywhere, but its use increased over the seven years.
the traditional methods for measuring drug use are surveys and crime statistics.
“but (surveys) are indirect because they rely on people being willing to disclose that they’re consuming drugs,” yargeau said. with waste water epidemiology, “you don’t have that bias because you measure what’s in the water and what people consume.