Aim: To track recent trends in the population prevalence, availability, price, and harm of amphetamine in New Zealand.
Design: National household drug surveys were conducted in 1998, 2001, and 2003 using the same Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) methodology. General population random digit dial samples of 15-45 year olds were compared between the three survey waves (n=5475 in 1998; n=5504 in 2001; n=3042 in 2003).
Findings: The proportion of the sample who had ever used amphetamine increased in 2001 compared to 1998 (11.0% versus 7.6%, p<0.0001) and then decreased in 2003 compared to 2001 (9.0% versus 11.0%, p=0.0066). The last year use of amphetamine increased in 2001 compared to 1998 (5.0% versus 2.9%, p<0.0001) and then did not significantly change in 2003 compared to 2001 (4.0% versus 5.0%, p=0.0466). The proportion of last year amphetamine users who said that the availability of amphetamine had become 'harder' compared to 12 months ago was higher in 2003 compared to 2001 (24.5% versus 12.4%, p=0.0284). Approximately 3 out of 10 amphetamine users reported harm to at least one area of their life from amphetamine use in 2001 and 2003. Harm to 'energy and vitality', 'financial position', and 'health' were the areas of life most commonly reported harmed from amphetamine use in both 2001 and 2003.
Conclusions: Amphetamine remains a drug of serious concern in New Zealand. There is evidence of a levelling out in the prevalence of use and some evidence of a relative decline in availability. After 2001, wider public awareness of the health risks associated with methamphetamine use, and increasing law enforcement and legislative focus on methamphetamine, may have contributed to the stabilisation of the situation by 2003.