The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) recently conducted their third quarter DUMA survey for the year 2011. In this survey, AIC included new set of questions that covers the illegal use of prescription medications as well as the extent of these medications in the black market.

There were 825 adult police detainees that were utilized as subjects for this survey. Most of the questions utilized in this survey was about the prevalence of pharmaceutical drug use, the extent of how these drugs were obtained (illegal or illegitimate methods), and the perceptions of its availability.

Here are some key findings for this survey:

  • In light of increased concern regarding the illegal use of prescription medication and the extent of the diversion of pharmaceuticals into the black market, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) incorporated a set of new questions into its Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program in 2011.
  • Analysis showed that one in three (36%) of 825 adult police detainees self-reported using buprenorphine, methadone, morphine, benzodiazepines or dexamphetamine at least once in the past 12 months.
  • Benzodiazepines were the most commonly used pharmaceutical drug among police detainees (25%), followed by morphine (12%), buprenorphine (8%), methadone (7%) and dexamphetamine (4%).
  • Of those detainees who had used pharmaceuticals, as many as two in three (63%) reported obtaining them from at least one of a number of illegitimate sources. This equates to a prevalence of 23 percent across all detainees interviewed.
  • A larger proportion of detainees (16%) were classified as illegitimate benzodiazepine users than illegitimate morphine (9%), buprenorphine (5%), methadone or dexamphetamine users (3%, respectively).
  • The most common method for obtaining pharmaceutical drugs illegitimately was to receive them from family or friends without paying. Overall 14 percent of all detainees reported doing so at least once in the past 12 months.
  • Despite obtaining pharmaceutical drugs predominantly from family or friends, the vast majority of self-reported users said that they were "easy" or "very easy" to obtain on the street (without a prescription). Benzodiazepines were most frequently reported as easy or very easy to obtain on the street (86%), followed by buprenorphine and morphine (76%, respectively).
  • More than half of those detainees using buprenorphine (59%) and morphine (53%) knew of someone dealing the drug at the time of their arrest. This was the case for 47 percent of dexamphetamine users, 42 percent of benzodiazepine users and 38 percent of methadone users.

Read the whole research findings of the DUMA report here.