Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42429112›Full record

ArticleDrug testing and analysis2026

Understanding Consumption of Illicit Drugs and New Psychoactive Substances in Australia by Triangulating Drug Checking and Wastewater-Based Epidemiology.

Muhammad Usman, Malcolm McLeod, Dhayaalini Nadarajan, Joseph Clokey, Pritesh Prasad, Rory Verhagen, Benjamin Tscharke, Maurizio Quinto, Richard Bade

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Drug testing and analysis, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Muhammad UsmanQueensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Dutton Park, QLD, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1392-8708
Malcolm McLeodResearch School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2343-3226
Dhayaalini NadarajanQueensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Dutton Park, QLD, Australia.
Joseph ClokeyQueensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Dutton Park, QLD, Australia.
Pritesh PrasadQueensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Dutton Park, QLD, Australia.
Rory VerhagenQueensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Dutton Park, QLD, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3961-0108
Benjamin TscharkeQueensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Dutton Park, QLD, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3292-3534
Maurizio QuintoDepartment of Agriculture, Food, Natural Resources, and Engineering (DAFNE), University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
Richard BadeQueensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Dutton Park, QLD, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2724-9183

Funding

ACT Health and Community Services DirectorateAustralian Research Council DE220100381Queensland Health
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Consumption of psychotropic drugs is a major economic and public health challenge in Australia. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) and drug checking have emerged as complementary tools to monitor this market. WBE estimates drug use within communities for target compounds and their metabolites, while drug checking is a free service available in some Australian jurisdictions, which allows individuals to verify drug purity and composition. In this work, wastewater samples were collected from five sites across Queensland (n = 3), New South Wales (n = 1) and Victoria (n = 1) over the 2024-25 New Year holidays, while drug checking was carried out at a site in central Canberra over December-January. Wastewater samples were analysed for alcohol, illicit drugs and new psychoactive substances (NPS) using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Methamphetamine was the most consumed illicit substance across all sites, while cocaine and MDMA showed distinct increases over the New Year period. Among NPS, bromazolam and 2'-fluoro-2-oxo-PCE were most prevalent, while ketamine was consistently detected at regional sites with consumption 2.8-3-fold higher on New Year's days. Drug checking revealed prevalence of MDMA, cocaine and ketamine. NPS were detected in 15%-20% of total drug samples submitted, with N,N-dimethylpentylone and 2'-fluoro-2-oxo-PCE the most frequently found. This study is the first to demonstrate the potential synergy between WBE and drug checking, highlighting how their complementary roles can enhance drug surveillance, early warnings for emerging psychoactive substances and monitoring of changes in drug consumption during high-risk periods.

Indexed as

Illicit DrugsPsychotropic DrugsSubstance Abuse DetectionWastewaterWater Pollutants, ChemicalAustraliaHumansLiquid Chromatography-Mass SpectrometryQueenslandTandem Mass SpectrometryWastewater-Based Epidemiological MonitoringIllicit DrugsPsychotropic DrugsWastewaterWater Pollutants, Chemicaldata triangulationearly warning systempill testingwastewater analysis

Identifiers

PMID42429112
PMCPMC13628436

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.