Illicit drug use

Two-thirds (67%) of prison entrants reported illicit drug use in the 12 months prior to prison entry. Non-Indigenous entrants were more likely than Indigenous entrants to have used illicit drugs in the 12 months prior to prison (69% and 60%, respectively). As in the general population, recent illicit drug use was more common among younger entrants, with over three-quarters (76%) of those aged 18–24 having taken illicit drugs in the last 12 months, compared with 53% of those aged 45 and over (Table 1).

More than half (55%) of entrants who had used illicit drugs in the 12 months prior to prison had used more than one type of drug, including 1 in 10 (11%) who had used 4 or more drugs.

Table 1: Prison entrants, illicit drug use in last 12 months by sex, age group and Indigenous status, 2015

  Number Per cent
Sex
Male 497 67
Female 43 65
Age group
18–24 years 115 76
25–34 years 233 68
35–44 years 137 66
45+ years 52 53
Indigenous status
Indigenous 118 60
Non-Indigenous 421 69
Total 540 67

Notes

  1. Excludes New South Wales as data were not provided for this indicator.

Source: Entrant form, NPHDC 2015.

The most commonly used substances for non-medical purposes in the previous 12 months by prison entrants were:

  • methamphetamine (50%)
  • cannabis/marijuana (41%)
  • analgesics/pain killers (13%)
  • tranquillisers/sleeping pills (11%)
  • heroin (9%)
  • and other analgesics (including opiates/opioids, 8%).

The most commonly used drugs differed slightly for male and female prison entrants: Women were more likely than men to have used analgesics/pain killers (27% and 11%, respectively) and tranquillisers/sleeping pills (26% and 9%).

Use of most commonly-used substances was higher for the youngest entrants (aged 18–24 years) than the oldest entrants (aged at least 45), including methamphetamines (59% to 28%), cannabis (53% to 35%) and ecstasy (11% to 3%).  However, older entrants (10–12% of those aged at least 35) more often reported using heroin than the youngest entrants (4%).

Non-Indigenous entrants were more likely than Indigenous entrants to use methamphetamines (54% and 38% respectively), tranquilisers/sleeping pills (12% and 5%), heroin (10% and 6%) and ecstasy (8% and 4%).

Further information 

See Chapter 10 of The health of Australia's prisoners 2015.