Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA): Preliminary Results from the Southport Site, 1999

• NCJ Number: 181123
• Author(s): Toni Makkai; Marni Feather
• Editor(s): Adam Graycar
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Australian Institute of Criminology Trends & Issues in Crime and Justice No. 142.

Annotation

In urinalysis testing at the Drug Use Monitoring (DUMA) site in Southport, Queensland, Australia, about two-thirds of all arrestees in 1999 tested positive to a drug at the time of arrest.

Abstract

Of the arrestees, 13 percent were charged with a violent offense, 30 percent with a property offense, 13 percent with a drug offense, 15 percent with drunk driving, 36 percent with a traffic offense other than drunk driving, 14 percent with a disorder offense, and 24 percent with an outstanding warrant. For violent offenders, very few arrestees tested positive for opiates; 15 percent tested positive for amphetamines, 20 percent for benzodiazepines, and 58 percent for marijuana. For property offenders, 70 percent tested positive for marijuana and 29 percent for opiates. For drunk drivers, 62 percent tested positive for marijuana, 18 percent for amphetamines, and 13 percent for benzodiazepines. Excluding marijuana, 10 percent of arrestees tested positive for two or more drugs, but 46 percent of those who tested positive for opiates also tested positive for benzodiazepines. Practical uses of the findings are discussed, including the use of DUMA information to identify changes in drug habits. 13 references, 4 notes, 6 tables, and 1 figure