An estimated average of 9.4kg of cocaine was consumed each week, which was 98% more than the average quantity consumed over the previous four quarters.<\/p>\n
Wastewater testing occurs for one week each month across various sites in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Police said the estimated weekly social harm cost of cocaine use was $3.5 million.<\/p>\n
Wastewater testing data for the last quarter of 2025 shows the Bay of Plenty overtook Auckland for daily usage of cocaine. Image \/ NZ Police<\/p>\n
Detective Inspector Lindsay Pilbrow, Bay of Plenty district criminal investigations manager, said availability and price influenced drug consumption. <\/p>\n
He said it was unknown whether the increase was caused by more people using drugs or the same number of people consuming more. <\/p>\n
Pilbrow said police were focused on importers and suppliers. <\/p>\n
NZ Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm called for a \u201cmore fundamental shift\u201d in drug laws.<\/p>\n
She said the Government\u2019s recently released Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Substance Harm 2026-2029<\/a> was a positive move.<\/p>\n It focused on providing early intervention and more peer-based support services.<\/p>\n She said New Zealand\u2019s approach for the past 50 years had been to ban and police substances, and criminalise people for drug use.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this is clearly not working. Both drug use and drug harm have increased.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the increase in cocaine use was part of a global trend.<\/p>\n The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime recently identified cocaine as the world\u2019s fastest-growing illegal drug market, Helm said.<\/p>\n \u201cGlobal cocaine production reached an all-time high of 3707 tonnes in 2023, a 34% increase from 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2025 NZ Drug Trends Survey (NZDTS), run by Massey University,<\/a> reported the proportion of people describing cocaine as \u201ceasy\u201d to get had increased from 17% in 2018\/19 to 43% in 2025.<\/p>\n The average price per cocaine gram was $360.<\/p>\n The survey showed 79% of participants worked full or part-time, and 42% earned more than $80,000. The median age of participants was 32.<\/p>\n Survey participants were anonymous and recruited through a social media campaign covering all 16 regions.<\/p>\n Dr Robin van der Sanden, of Massey University\u2019s SHORE & Whariki research centre, conducted the survey.<\/p>\n Customs figures show cocaine and meth seizures at the Port of Tauranga topped almost $962m <\/a> in less than four years.<\/p>\n Customs officers recently seized 48kg of cocaine<\/a>, with an estimated street value of $16.8m, from a refrigerated container at the port.<\/p>\n The drugs were hidden in the insulated roof lining of a refrigerated container carrying legitimate goods from Balboa, Panama.<\/p>\n \u201cCocaine use is highest in the upper North Island,\u201d van der Sanden said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lot to do with the geography of where the cocaine is coming in.\u201d<\/p>\nCocaine has become increasingly easier to obtain, according to the NZ Drug Trends Survey. Image \/ Massey University<\/p>\n