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Australian crime: Facts & figures 2009 [webpage]
Australian Institute of Criminology, March 2010
This compendium of the most recently available national information on crime in Australia is intended to serve as a ready reference. It covers different types of recorded crimes, their place of occurrence, victim details, responses of criminal justice agencies, and government resources directed to deal with crime.
An environmental scan on alcohol and other drug issues facing law enforcement in Australia 2010 [pdf - 810Kb]
Prepared by Roger Nicholas, National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund. March 2010
This is the second alcohol and other drug environmental scan undertaken for the law enforcement sector in Australia. The first (Nicholas and Shoobridge, 2005) was conducted under the auspices of the Commissioners’ Drugs Committee of the Conference of Commissioners of Police of Australasia and the South West Pacifi c Region. The current scan was funded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund (NDLERF)
The aims of this environmental scan were to:
• identify the key alcohol and other drug issues impacting on the law enforcement sector at present and into the future;
• identify ways in which the law enforcement sector might best position itself to meet future challenges and to maximise its contribution to Australia’s National Drug Strategy;
• provide a ‘one stop shop’ for operational and policy law enforcement staff to source the most up to date information available on a range of alcohol and other drug issues; and
• provide some guidance to the NDLERF Board of Management in relation to its future general funding priority areas and to make some specifi c recommendations concerning potential future projects..
The epidemiology of cannabis use and cannabis-related harm in Australia 1993–2007 [pdf - 382.53Kb]
Amanda Roxburgh et al. National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. Research Report, Addiction March 2010
Aims: To examine trends in patterns of cannabis use and related harm in the Australian population between 1993 and 2007.
Design: Analysis of prospectively collected data from: (1) the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) and Australian Secondary Student Alcohol and Drug Survey (ASSADS); (2) the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD); and (3) the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Dataset (AODTS-NMDS).
Participants :Australians aged 14 years and over from the general population; students aged 12–17 years; public and private hospital in-patients; public and private in-patients and out-patients attending for drug treatment.
Measurement: Prevalence of 12-month cannabis use among the general population and secondary students. Proportions in the general population by age group reporting: daily cannabis use; difficulties in controlling cannabis use; and heavy cannabis use on each occasion. Number of hospital and treatment presentations for cannabis-related problems.
Findings: Prevalence of past-year cannabis use has declined in the Australian population since the late 1990s. Among those reporting past-year use, daily use is prevalent among 40–49-year-olds, while heavy patterns of use are prevalent among 14–19-year-olds. Hospital presentations for cannabis-related problems reflect similar trends. Past-year cannabis use has decreased among the 10–19-year age group, but those who are daily users in this age group report using large quantities of cannabis.
Conclusions: Despite declines in the prevalence of cannabis use, continued public health campaigns warning of the harms associated with cannabis use are essential, aimed particularly at userswho are already experiencing problems. The increasing demand for treatment for cannabis problems in Australia suggests the need for more accessible and more effective interventions for cannabis use disorders.
The health and psychological effects of "ecstasy" (MDMA) use [pdf - 1.16Mb]
Wayne Hall, Louisa Degenhardt, eds. National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre Monograph No. 62. March 2010
This monograph considers a number of possible consequences of ecstasy use and identifies the research needed to more definitively answer questions about whether ecstasy has adverse effects on health of type reviewed.
This work arose out of the increasing perception that there needed to be a summary of existing research on the epidemiology and possible effects of “ecstasy” (MDMA) use, given its increasing prevalence among young adults, and understandable concerns about studies reporting on various putative adverse consequences of this use.
Situational Analysis of Drug and Alcohol Issues and Responses in the Pacific 2008-2009 [pdf - 2.34Mb]
Prepared by the Burnet Institute for the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) March 2010.
This report, Situational Analysis of Drug and Alcohol Issues and Responses in the Pacific 2008-09, was commissioned in order to provide detailed country profiles relating to alcohol and other drug issues. In addition, a regional overview has been prepared to highlight where existing regional mechanisms may be, and already have been, employed to address these issues. The report provides a much needed picture of the Pacific Region and the drug and alcohol issues they are experiencing.
[page updated - 1st April 2010] |
