Workplace testing shows cocaine 'entrenched' in NZ drug scene

Cocaine use in surging in New Zealand, according to a workplace testing company.

The Drug Detection Agency's latest quarterly report shows positive workplace cocaine tests up nearly 70 percent year-on-year.

Chief executive Glenn Dobson told Morning Report that the trend was "really entrenched now", with positive cocaine tests up "for the last several quarters".

The trend was global, he said.

"Our stats in Australia are also telling us the same story with our neighbours across the ditch. And I was recently at a conference in the States where they said they've seen a real surge of cocaine use in their country as well.

"So what it's telling me is that whilst we may be a small country in the bottom of the world, we're certainly part of the global supply."

Two bright spots in the latest data were a decline in opioid detection and a national decline in detection rates across all drugs tested for.

"If there's some reason for celebration ... first and foremost is that the positive detection rates are down slightly on a national scale, so that's good. That means that there's actually less drugs in the workplaces that we're seeing. And also opioids, one that we saw tracking up for the last few quarters, has tracked down a little bit in this quarter."

Cannabis remained the most commonly detected drug via workplace testing, followed by methamphetamine, Dobson said.

Workplace testing was also revealing "huge differences" between regions, making it imperative for employers to follow up on the report.

"Employers need to get their hands on this report so they can see which region they're in and which drugs are showing up ... for instance, from a cocaine perspective, we've seen a huge increase in Canterbury and Otago.

"Methamphetamine, we saw a huge increase in Southland and Otago ... some of these stats are also mirrored in the wastewater statistics as well."

Dobson accepted that his company's data related to workplace drug testing only.

"It's a subset of our society, though, and it's workplaces that are doing drug testing traditionally. That's been the blue-collar workplaces, workplaces that are described as safety-sensitive. But over the years, we're testing more and more in white-collar industries as well.

"It's a part of health and safety within the workplace now ... The reason why we do it is we want people to get home safely to their families at the end of the day."