Drug use by incarcerated women offenders

The Drug Use Careers of Offenders (DUCO) project, conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology, aims to contribute empirical evidence about the interaction between drug use and criminal offending. A total of 470 women incarcerated in six jurisdictions in Australia were interviewed for the female component of the DUCO project. This study examines illegal drug use prior to arrest and the correlates of drug use among these incarcerated women. Regular use of illegal drugs in the 6 months prior to arrest was reported by 62% of offenders and 39% reported multiple drug use. Indigenous women reported higher rates of cannabis use while non-Indigenous women had higher rates of heroin, amphetamines and benzodiazepines as well as multiple drug use. Multivariate analysis identified the following statistically significant predictors of regular drug use prior to arrest: age, marital status, not having children, early exposure to drug problems among family members, violent victimisation as an adult, earning an income primarily from crime or sex work and using amphetamines, benzodiazepines or morphine on prescription. Additional factors predicting multiple drug use were low education, non-Indigenous status, having mental health problems and having been in juvenile detention. These results suggest that drug treatment that fails to identify and respond to some of the antecedents of drug use such as mental health problems and the effects of violent victimisation may result in higher rates of drug use relapse and lower success upon release from prison.