What Factors Predict the Self-Identification of Drug Dependency Among Australian Police Detainees? Prevalence, Correlates, and Implications for the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

The drug-crime nexus has received interest from both drug-crime scholars and public policy experts internationally. While there is little disagreement that drug use is linked to higher rates of crime, causation remains hotly contested. One area of emerging interest is the confounding influence of “identity” in shaping long-term behavioral drug use and criminal trajectories. In this study, we explore the prevalence with which recent drug-using police detainees self-identify as drug-dependent and, using logistic regression, model self-identification as a function of one’s demographic, and drug-use profile. We find that being female and younger is associated with an increased odds of self-identifying oneself as dependent, controlling for drug use variables. Of the five drug types, primary heroin users are the most likely to self-identify, whereas cocaine, cannabis, and amphetamine users are less likely. To end, the potential implications of these results are discussed, and future research avenues are explored.