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Substance-use disorders and psychological distress among police arrestees
Edward B Heffernan1, Joe Finn, John B Saunders
1Department of Psychiatry, Royal Bribane Hospital, QLD. edward.heffernan@dhs.vic.gov.au
Objectives:
To determine the 12-month prevalence of substance-use disorders and psychological morbidity in an Australian arrestee population.
Design:
Cross-sectional descriptive study.
Participants And Setting:
288 police arrestees at the Brisbane City Police Watch House in February and March 2001.
Outcome Measures:
Prevalence of drug and alcohol disorders; psychological "caseness" according to the 28-item General Health Questionnaire; demographics and index offences.
Results:
86% of the arrestees had at least one substance-use disorder; most had multiple disorders. More than 80% were substance dependent. The predominant substances used were amphetamines, marijuana, opioids and alcohol. 82% of the men and 94% of the women were suffering significant psychological distress.
Conclusions:
Development of services for detoxification and treatment of this population is a pressing need. The findings provide crucial information for the planning and implementation of drug courts and court diversion systems.
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