Source: The Drug Detection Agency
A concerning spring snow in Kiwi workplaces – Imperans Q3 Report, State of Workplace Drug Use from TDDA
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, 14 October 2026 – Cocaine and methamphetamine use continues to climb across New Zealand workplaces. The latest Imperans Report, a quarterly analysis of workplace drug use from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), carries a warning for employers ahead of the festive season.
TDDA’s Imperans report empowers New Zealand employers to engage in proactive workplace risk management, it provides them with an analysis of drug and alcohol usage trends, combining workplace testing and screening results from across the country. TDDA is New Zealand’s largest workplace drug testing provider.
In Q3 2026, 3.2% of all screens1 conducted by TDDA indicated the presence of drugs, returning the nation’s businesses to an upward trend, compared with 2.8% in Q2.
Among all positive results2 across New Zealand, year-on-year (YoY) substance detections are as follows.
* Cocaine: 3.2% of positive tests, up 117.7% YoY
* ATS (including methamphetamine): 25.4% of positive tests, up 9.4% YoY
* THC (Cannabis): 68.9% of positive tests, down 3% YoY
Cocaine accounted for 3.2% of positive tests in Q3 2026, up 117.7% YoY. It is the highest level seen in a year outside of seasonal holiday peaks, and Auckland’s North Shore is establishing itself as a hotbed of activity.
“This quarter, our Imperans data points to a concerning shift in cocaine. We warned businesses in the South Island in particular last quarter, and now it’s expanding to the North Island. Detections suggest that organised crime has found a suitable supply chain and they continue to identify markets, like Auckland’s North Shore, where the drug can be sold effectively. This is following global supply trends,” says Glenn Dobson, Chief Executive of TDDA.
“Cocaine affects how the brain evaluates risk, producing misplaced confidence and compromised decision-making at exactly the wrong moment. On safety-critical sites, where split seconds matter, that combination can turn deadly. In the office, that same overconfidence can lead to reckless and poor decisions under pressure. With more corporate events such as year-end parties, people’s guard tends to drop. It’s one of the most exciting times of the year, but it’s also a time to pause and think about how to protect your people and your business.”
ATS, including methamphetamine, accounted for 25.4% of positive tests, up 9.4% YoY. This may look like an easing from last quarter (32.7%), but that reflects a high base in Q2. Setting that spike aside, ATS has held an upward trend over the past several quarters. Businesses in Wellington and Otago should particularly take note, as positive rates keep climbing.
“While cocaine is on the rise, businesses can’t take their eye off methamphetamines. The drug class remains an ever-growing plague in communities as well as in workplaces, and the harms of the drug, from paranoia and aggression to clouded judgement and chronic fatigue, are well known. Wellington saw over a 200% increase in positive results, and businesses in the area need to understand the signs of use and have a plan in place to manage workers,” added Dobson.
Cannabis and opioids detection rates remain stubbornly high. Cannabis accounted for 68.9% of positive tests, down 3% YoY, although the quarterly trend turned back upward, up 7% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). Opioids accounted for 18.2% of positive tests, down 2.2% YoY.
Regional trends
TDDA tracks regional fluctuations in substance use to help employers better manage workplace safety risks through targeted testing, education, and early intervention.
Click HERE for regional figures.
Cocaine
The YoY rise runs both nationally and regionally, particularly across the North Island this quarter.
* North Shore: 11.5% of positive tests, up 266.1% YoY
* Northland: 3.9% of positive tests, up 73.4% YoY
* Auckland West: 3.4% of positive tests, up 60.6% YoY
* Hawke’s Bay: 3.1% of positive tests, up 200% YoY
ATS
ATS positive rates eased nationwide this quarter but stay high across most regions.
* Wellington: 45.1% of positive tests, up 203.3% YoY
* Otago: 28.8% of positive tests, up 184.6% YoY
* Auckland West: 21.9% of positive tests, up 71.7% YoY
Cannabis
Cannabis positive rates stay the highest of any substance in most regions, and some regions show a concerning trend.
* Gisborne: 73.3% of positive tests, up 193.3% YoY
* Taranaki: 90% of positive tests, up 35% YoY
* The Lakes: 72.7% of positive tests, up 22.4% YoY
While cannabis positive rates eased YoY in many regions, most have turned upward again this quarter. Some regions rose sharply QoQ, such as Otago, up 33.2% QoQ, and Taranaki, up 110% QoQ.
What this means for employers
“Ahead of the holiday season, I’d recommend going through your health and safety checklist, and ensure it includes a comprehensive drug and alcohol policy and action plan for the worst that could happen. The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 puts the obligation on employers to manage foreseeable risks. With the right system in place to handle a situation, you can maintain a healthy and productive workforce, even through the silly season,” says Dobson.
TDDA recommends reviewing the types of testing businesses use and the frequency of testing, such as in a random drug testing programme.
Education now helps supervisors and managers to recognise the behavioural signs of substance use and act on reasonable grounds – a skill needed as the nation moves towards the holidays. Employees need to know how drugs and alcohol affect safety, and why that matters. Testing is the foundation of the system and education is what makes that system work in an organisation.
“At TDDA, our mission is what we call protecting the girl on the bike. The truck, the commuter car, the construction site she rides past, every one of them is part of getting her home safely. That is what we are protecting,” says Dobson.
Notes:
Methodology: Tests from 27 sterile clinic locations and over 60 mobile clinics throughout New Zealand were used. All tests were taken between 1 July and 30 September 2026. Data from pre-employment, post incident, regular and random testing has been combined. Testing methods included urine and oral fluid screening. Data is reported into, anonymised, and aggregated using TDDA’s Imperans system, a bespoke IT platform for testing services, data recording, and reporting. It represents a snapshot of drug trends across Australasian workplaces and industries.
TDDA drug tests screen for amphetamines; benzodiazepines; cocaine; methamphetamine; opiates and opioids; cannabis; and synthetic drugs. Poly-drug use, where multiple drugs are present in the same test, is common.
1: TDDA conducts over 250,000 tests per year, however, complete figures on testing volumes by location, industry or region are commercially sensitive.
2: For the purposes of this report, the term “positive result” refers to non-negative initial screening results. This approach was adopted to provide a comprehensive view of potential drug presence in the workforce, acknowledging that not all non-negative samples proceed to confirmatory testing due to operational constraints such as employee resignation, withdrawal of consent, or logistical limitations in sample viability. While confirmatory testing offers definitive identification, initial non-negative results are used given their relevance to immediate workplace safety considerations and policy triggers.