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Engagement with the criminal justice system among opioid‐dependent people: a retrospective cohort study
Author(s) -
Degenhardt Louisa,
Gisev Natasa,
Trevena Judy,
Larney Sarah,
Kimber Jo,
Burns Lucy,
Shanahan Marian,
Weatherburn Don
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/add.12324
Subject(s) - retrospective cohort study , demography , cohort , medicine , confidence interval , population , criminal justice , opioid , cohort study , psychiatry , psychology , environmental health , criminology , sociology , receptor
Aims Studies of offending among people who use drugs typically focus upon small and potentially unrepresentative samples. We examined an entire population of opioid‐dependent clients' contact with the criminal justice system to develop more accurate population‐wide measures of offending among opioid‐dependent people in A ustralia. Design Retrospective data linkage study. Setting All entrants to opioid substitution therapy ( OST ) for opioid dependence in N ew S outh W ales, A ustralia, between 1985 and 2010, with data on court appearances from 1 D ecember 1993 to 31 M arch 2011. Participants All 48 069 valid cohort members who received OST between 1985 and 2010. Measurements Person‐years ( PY ) of observation and charge rates for major crime categories estimated by sex, age and time. Findings A total of 638 545 charges were laid against cohort members between 1993 and 2011. Eight in 10 males (79.7%) and 67.9% of females had at least one charge; rates were 94.15 per 100 PY [95% confidence interval ( CI) = 93.89–94.41] among males, and 53.19 per 100 PY (95% CI = 52.91–53.46) among females, and highest at 15–19 years [175.74/100 PY males (95% CI = 174.45–177.03), 75.60/100 PY females (95% CI = 74.46–76.76)] and 20–24 years [144.61/100 PY males (95% CI = 143.70–145.53), 84.50/100 PY females (95% CI = 83.53–85.48)]. The most frequent charges were theft (24.5% of charges), traffic/vehicle (16.3%), offences against justice (10.5%), illicit drug (10.0%), intentional injury (9.9%) and public order offences (8.9%). Overall, 20.8% of the cohort accounted for 67.4% of charges. The most frequently appearing 5.6% of the cohort accounted for 24.3% of costs ($75.5 million). Conclusions Among opioid‐dependent people in A ustralia, a minority account for the majority of the criminal justice contact and levels of offending are not consistent over time, sex or age.