An ex-con-turned-influencer was stunned to see how easy it is was to score drugs in a city dubbed the “cocaine capital” due to lax laws which allows people to possess small amounts without prosecution

Cocaine is so rife in a city where small amounts has been decriminalised that users are “immune to it”, it is claimed. Police in Canberra, Australia, no longer prosecute users with less than 1.5 grams of the illicit drug.

The city has been dubbed the “cocaine capital” after small quantities of the drug — and others, such as ecstasy (MDMA), ice, heroin, LSD and amphetamines — were decriminalised in 2023, sparking a surge in usage.

Ex-con-turned influencer Spanian visited the city to see how easy it is to score and found drug use is soaring. The former criminal, real name Anthony Lees, was shown around the city by two locals, named only as KG and Sean.

In a viral video, KG told Spanian: “I feel like coke has taken over Canberra. It’s the cocaine capital. People are getting immune to coke then they’re going up to the next stage to get high.”

And they warned that crystal meth might soon take over as “it’s the next step up from coke”. Sean told him: “Ice is probably the next [biggest drug]. They [cocaine and ice] would probably be toe-to-toe, I reckon.”

The pair took Spanian to a block of flats known for drug dealing and told him the city was littered with “places like this.” In the video, he can be seen walking off before he returned with a small plastic bag. He said: “Wow, it’s that easy. It’s two grey ecstasy pills.”

Spanian offered the pills to a young homeless woman named Jade and asked her what she did when police find drugs on her. She told him: “I’ve had drugs on me a few different times and they just put it in my bag and give it back to me. I was in Queanbeyan and they’re [police] like, ‘She’s got a needle, she’ll be fine’.”

The video got over 380,000 views on YouTube by Tuesday morning and Americans have warned Aussies they’re on a dangerous path.

One wrote: “I live and have lived forever in Seattle. Word of advice. Don’t decriminalise anything and fund your police, unless you want your kids smelling fentanyl and leaning over everywhere you go.”

How ACT decriminalised drugs

Illicit drugs are now decriminalised in small quantities:

Cocaine – 1.5 grams

Meth – 1.5 grams

MDMA – 1.5grams

Amphetamine – 1.5 grams

Heroin – 1.5 grams

Cannabis – 1.5 grams

Marijuana – 50 grams

Magic mushrooms – 1.5 grams

LSD – 0.001g

Another said: “I live in Oregon, USA, and they started this a few years ago here. It destroyed so many lives.” A third added: “They did this in Oregon, USA. It was a total s*** show. Don’t do it,.”

Addiction rates and overdose rates skyrocketed in Portland, Oregon, after possession for personal use was decriminalised in 2020. The state had to reverse course in April 2024, as Portland became notorious for public places overrun with often unstable drug users.

Some fears Canberra could end up like parts of the US, where the opioid epidemic has led to drug users roaming the streets, along with spikes in crime and overdoses.