Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA): 2000 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Police Detainees

• NCJ Number: 196194
• Author(s): Toni Makkai; Kiah McGregor
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 68 pages
• Corporate Author: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Research and Public Policy Series No. 37; downloaded June 24, 2002.

Annotation

Data collected on the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program for the year 2000 addresses the types and frequency of the drugs detected among police detainees and self-reported criminal activity; this 2000 report expands on the 1999 report with the inclusion of additional information on self-reported heavy use of alcohol.

Abstract

Throughout the year, DUMA staff and local partners in three States have worked at consolidating the initial implementation phase in 1999. This has involved further work in ensuring a consistent data-collection process, improving the questionnaire, and refining procedures to ensure the collection of quality data on drugs and crime. Over the course of the year, 84 percent of detainees who were approached voluntarily agreed to complete an interview, and approximately 74 percent of these people agreed to provide a urine specimen. Urine samples are routinely tested for amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, methadone, and opiates. For the first time, DUMA provides police, policymakers, criminal justice practitioners, and other professionals with systematic empirical data on illicit drug use among people detained by the police and brought to a police station for charging. DUMA detected a sudden increase in amphetamine use in the East Perth site in the first quarter of 2000, but no similar increases were detected in the other four sites. No less than 10 percent of adult male detainees and 13 percent of adult female detainees tested positive for benzodiazepines across the sites in any quarter in 2000. Marijuana use was common in all the sites, with nine of the sites reporting no less than 33 percent of the adult male sample and 14 percent of the adult female samples testing positive in any quarter. Virtually no cocaine was detected in the urine of adult detainees at the sites in 2000. The level of positive opiate tests varied between sites, with the Sydney sites being almost double the rates of the other two sites. The average rates testing positive across the sites were 44 percent of females and 28 percent of males. Data on illicit drug use and self-reported criminal activity are also provided. Extensive tabular and graphic data