NCJ Number
184590
Date Published
2000
Length
46 pages
Annotation
Information from interviews and urinalysis of persons detained and brought to police stations at four sites in Australia during 1999 formed the basis of an analysis of illicit drug use among this population.
Abstract
The data came from sites in Queensland, Western Australia, and New South Wales. Eighty percent of the detainees who were asked agreed voluntarily to complete an interview; 70 percent of those interviewed agreed to provide a urine specimen as well. The program conducted voluntary interviews with 1,422 detainees, including 1,366 adults and 36 juveniles. It also collected urine specimens from 979 juvenile and adult detainees. Half of both the male and the female detainees self-reported that they had been previously arrested in the past 12 months. Forty-one percent of the detainees said that they had used an illegal drug or a medication prior to their current arrest. Adult males consistently tested positive to a range of drugs, regardless of the charge. Seventy percent of those detained for violent offenses, 86 percent of those detained for property offenses, 89 percent of those detained for drug law offenses, 73 percent of those detained for traffic offenses, 62 percent of those detained for disorder offenses, and 76 percent of those detained for warrants tested positive for drugs. At least 48 percent of the adult males and 29 percent of the adult females at each site tested positive for marijuana. However, the urinalysis detected virtually no cocaine. The level of positive opiate tests varied across sites and averaged 22 percent of the males and 39 percent of the females. Tables and figures