Half of prison inmates test positive for pot

[WantDaChronic]

MORE than 50 per cent of Australia's prisoners tested positive to cannabis over the past year, a report has found.

 

The Australian Institute of Criminology today released two comprehensive reports focusing on drug use and intimate relationship violence among prison detainees.

 

The data was collected from more than 4500 people in police custody at nine sites across the nation.

 

The data was taken from voluntary questionnaires filled out by the police detainees, 70 per cent of whom also provided urine tests.

 

The report showed that drug use and intimate relationship violence was high among detainees.

 

More than 50 per cent tested positive for cannabis, nearly a quarter tested positive to methamphetamines, and around eight per cent to heroin.

 

Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology Toni Makkai said the figures showed that methamphetamine use among detainees had grown since data was first collected in 1999.

 

"What we have seen is that heroin use has gone down ... however, we did see methamphetamine going up from 1999 through to 2003 however it has remained relatively stable at this level."

 

Of the people that took part in the questionnaire, half had been arrested in the past 12 months and 18 per cent had been in prison in the past 12 months.

 

More than two thirds were receiving government benefits and the majority, 84 per cent were male.

 

Justice Minister David Johnston said the statistics showed that there is a strong correlation between crime and substance abuse.

 

"This is a first for Australia to be able to look at ... what they've (people in police custody) been taking and what they say about drug abuse," he said.

 

"The Government's policies, with respect to drug and substance abuse, have to some large extent ... been vindicated when looking at this hard data."

 

The report also found that the level of inmate partner violence was almost 50 per cent higher than the general population.

 

Source: www.news.com.au

 

seems to me like they might have got the drug figures right, but the violence levels seem a little low

[Budman2012]

As with most of these type of stories , made to condemn .. rather to enlighten , there is a little truth there , mixed with a little propoganda , whilst leaving out so many other numbers and factors and opinions etc ..

 

The most basic example might be , Did they also drink alcohol? ofc .. or maybe excessive use of any number of certain "drugs" ...

 

When will anyone take into account , and guess at , some statistics on what toll the prohibition , and even "War" on drugs has cost our society and people?? ..

 

It's very dissapointing to see how they can just cast blame in order to keep their status , rather than admitting to the problems at hand and dealing with them ...

, heaps of false patriotic BS tells us to Stay strong .. battle thru old mate .. No worries .. She'll be right ...

And so that is what is generally practised by a world of mostly decent beings .. And still they take advantage of their position ..

But , Oh no!! .. The housing Boom is slowing slightly in the housing finance sector .. bummer .. There are 1000's of homeles people and also 100's of 1000's of 'Australians' living well under the poverty line and struggle constantly .. etc etc etc

Ahem .. but anyway .. I wish these old coots in government could just get together for a party one night .. take some shrooms .. and smoke some budz .. bond and form a gnosis .. and start again to make a country that we can all be at least a little more proud of ..

Just My opinion I spose .. But I like to think I almost said what I wanted to .. (my apologies , I'm a little tipsy)

 

Anyhoo , Have a good one

 

Budman

[mull]

The Australian Institute of Criminology today released two comprehensive reports focusing on drug use and intimate relationship violence among prison detainees.

 

"The Government's policies, with respect to drug and substance abuse, have to some large extent ... been vindicated when looking at this hard data."

 

The report also found that the level of inmate partner violence was almost 50 per cent higher than the general population.

 

 

The only difference of note, is that the subjects were in cages.

Nice piece of self validation AIC.

[Stoney]

very interesting read there WDC

 

seems to me like another goverment funded research grant aimed at reseaching what the goverment wants us to think

 

cheerz :Dj:

[Mushaman]

I'm just blown away at the baldfaced facts .. they're talking about drugs in jail ... how good are they at running the bloody system if they can't stop Meth and Smack getting in .. let alone some buds ... its advertising their failure ....

 

Justice Minister David Johnston said the statistics showed that there is a strong correlation between crime and substance abuse.

WOW that proves it DAvo !! ... I reckon there's more of a correlation between boredom and substance abuse ...

 

[Pa-uul]

Why don't they say that by making drugs illegal it increases the price, forcing many users to turn to crime to pay for it? An example would be in acts property theft or prostitution; both crimes and hence you'd get a correlation. Or, that drug prohibition mingles drug use with other crimes by making its commerce underground in organisations which often use the clandestine income stream for other crimes? Hence, a further increase in the association between drug use and crime, but it's not due to reasons intrinsic with the drug use itself. They also fail to mention that drug users often attract more attention to themselves by law enforcement, so there is more likely to be detection of any other crimes they may have committed, so an increased association. Furthermore, drug dealers are often unfairly targeted if they fall on the bad side of the coppers policing them due to corruption in the force.

 

The other thing they fail to mention is the huge correlation there must be between crime and tobacco use and between crime and alcohol use. Amazingly remiss there!

 

Naughty prohibitionists!

[jabez]

You can read the full report here.

 

Drug use monitoring in Australia : 2006 annual report on drug use among police detainees

[67Special]

Notice how they never study how many decent, responsible, even succesful people are using illicit drugs

 

Maybe because it would show that many peoples only crime is the drug use itself, which would show just how out of line the law is with what the population actually considers right&wrong.

 

[bufo marinus]

Typical one sided story as expected.

Pity they don't mention how the inmates waiting release at low security prisons are drug tested and any positives giving authorities reason to lock them down further, so most go through a forced withdrawl so as to be seen jumping through the hoops correctly.

Violence and drugs related?

How about explaining why some guys doing a long stretch start engaging in jail sex. Thats sex where men start fucking each other. Seems to happen mainly to those with long jail terms. Is this the answer for society? I'm not happy about doing that to anyone. Why don't they address that little point?

Drug users are easier to blame I guess

[WantDaChronic]

How about explaining why some guys doing a long stretch start engaging in jail sex. Thats sex where men start fucking each other. Seems to happen mainly to those with long jail terms. Is this the answer for society? I'm not happy about doing that to anyone. Why don't they address that little point?

that is a damn good point i think any study about homosexual behaviour of prisoners with a sentence 10 years or longer would prove that statistically speaking if you get arrested for 10 years or more, you're bound to either cop it or give it out to someone of the same gender