Running head: DRUG USE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL POLICY 1

Drug Use, Crime, and Social Policy in Australia

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DRUG USE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL POLICY 2

Drug Use, Crime, and Social Policy in Australia

Methamphetamine has been a drug of concern to the Australian authorities with its use

and availability rising tremendously over the past few years. The Australian criminal intelligence

community (ACIC) has singled out methamphetamine as one of the drugs posing a risk to the

Australian community in several ways mainly because it is linked to property crime. According

to Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA), there has been an acute increase in

methamphetamine use among police detainees from 14% in 2009 to 37% in 2014 (McKetin &

New South Wales, 2006). From these statistics, it is clear that there is a likelihood of property

crime engagement, a condition the ACIC suggests is likely to cause a corresponding rise in

property crime among criminals.

There is a solid connection between illegal drug use and crime. Methamphetamine use

has been linked with an increased danger of engaging in violence and property crimes though not

all illegal drug users engage in crime. The economic model of crime puts the probability of

committing a crime, particularly property crime and drug-related crime, increases with the

increase in substance abuse or frequency of addiction most likely due to the need for income to

support illegal drug purchase (McKetin & New South Wales,2006). For this reason, there has

been a greater reliance on unconventional and unlawful sources of income among

methamphetamine users than non-users. From these data from ACIC, it is clear that the recent

increase in crime is linked to excessive use of drugs.

ACIC has also reported that the number of acquisitive offenses reported by a detainee

was positively associated with the number of drugs they consumed. Those who used cocaine,

crack, and heroin and many other drug types had higher offending rates than users whose used
DRUG USE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL POLICY 3

cocaine, crack and heroin and fewer other drugs (Schloenhardt & Australian Institute of

Criminology, 2007). It is important therefore to note that whether it is the use of specific illegal

drugs like methamphetamine or a combination of several other illegal drugs that are associated

with engagement in acquisitive crime among Australian offenders.

The war on illegal drugs in Australia seems to be unending despite the strict laws on

illegal drug use and possession. A report from DUMA reveals that Since the introduction of the

laws, users of these drugs have been on the rise with close to a quarter of the teens in Australia

being introduced to these illegal drugs. Most of the illegal drugs use by the teens are cannabis

with close to 20% of teens reported recent use of the substance and methamphetamine with

around 6.4% of the teens reported to have recently used (Sweeney, Payne, & Australian Institute

of Criminology, 2012). Therefore, the increase in illegal drug consumption in Australia shows

that even with the strict laws in place, it is almost incapable of eradicating illegal drug markets or

even reducing them to a containable size.

The report also indicates that the increased criminalization of drug offenses in Australia

could lead to risk-taking behaviors by drug users like refusing to seek medical assistance, drug

switching, binge consumption, needle sharing and consuming drugs in situations where they are

unlikely to get assistance if difficulties arise (Sweeney, Payne, & Australian Institute of

Criminology, 2012). This type of behavior has serious implications for an individual and the

general use of illegal drugs.

It is therefore not surprising that the strict laws on illegal drugs have failed to resolve

issues with illegal drugs mainly due to the limitations of the deterrence theory. The theory

suggests that people tend to weigh the advantages and disadvantages as well as the profits or

losses involved with engaging or refraining from a criminal behavior and choose an outcome that
DRUG USE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL POLICY 4

most likely would benefit them with minimal risks (Sweeney, Payne, & Australian Institute of

Criminology, 2012).

With the increase in the consumption of illegal drugs like cannabis, countries are coming

up with certain policies that aim in decreasing the use of these drugs. In the 90s, the Netherlands

had fought with the increase in the use of cannabis through the introduction of strict drug laws.

The government had to come up with a policy that would help reduce cannabis consumption.

The policy was to create a distinction between soft and hard drugs. They put cannabis in the soft

drug category where through government policies, minor cannabis offenses were assigned low

priority for prosecution. In these policies, consumption or possession of small quantities of

cannabis was allowed, and shops were allowed to sell cannabis (Netherlands, 2003).

This policy was based on four main principles; normalization which aims at integration

and depolarization of deviance instead of removal and isolation, harm minimization, and the

desire to separate cannabis and other soft drugs with hard drugs with the aim of decreasing the

adverse effects of hard drugs (Netherlands, 2003). This approach despite criticism from other

countries has not lead to the increase in the cannabis market. The Netherlands now have fewer

patterns of cannabis use than most of the countries in Europe or even the US that has continually

insisted on using strict laws concerning the use of cannabis.

Swedens policy is an exact opposite of the Netherlands. The policy aims at limiting

access to drugs, reducing the number of youths engaging in drugs, limiting drug-related deaths

and increasing access to treatment and care for people with drug disorders. These targets are

monitored annually by the Swedish government and resources are reserved for future references

(Sweden, 1998). The Swedish policy has been praised for its broad and balanced approach with

various cross-sectoral initiatives and an appropriate strategic monitoring structure internationally.

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With the drug of concern in Australia being methamphetamine, a drug considered to

cause serious harm than cannabis, it would be a dangerous move to try the Netherlands approach

and instead use the Swedish approach. One of the successes of the Swedish approach was the use

of several criminological theories, mainly the harm reduction theory. Harm reduction theory

suggests that it is important to minimize the effects that illegal drugs have in the society rather

than minimizing their use. Evidence suggests that implementing stricter laws towards drug use

only worsens the situations and the only way to curb this is by use of harm reduction theory.

The same case will apply to the Australia. When devising ways to curb illegal drug use

especially methamphetamine, the Australian government should move away from the current

strict laws they currently practice on illegal drugs and instead focus on harm reduction on those

affected. The government should also focus on limiting drugs among school going children. This

way it would have succeeded in reducing the number of youths engaging in illegal drugs hence

the overall reduction of drug use among citizens of Australia. This would be a far much better

approach to curbing illegal drugs than the use of increased criminalization o drug use.
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References

McKetin, R., & New South Wales. (2006). The relationship between methamphetamine use and

violent behaviour. Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

Schloenhardt, A., & Australian Institute of Criminology. (2007). The market for amphetamine-

type stimulants and their precursors in Oceania. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.

Sweeney, J., Payne, J., & Australian Institute of Criminology. (2012). Drug use monitoring in

Australia: 2009-10 report on drug use among police detainees. Canberra: Australian Institute of

Criminology.

Australian Institute of Criminology. (2000). Drug use monitoring in Australia (DUMA): ...

annual report on drug use among police detainees. Canberra: Australian Institute of

Criminology.

Netherlands. (2003). Drug policy in the Netherlands: Basic principles and enforcement in

practice. The Hague: Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

Sweden. (1998). A Preventive strategy: Swedish drug policy in the 1990s. Stockholm: Swedish

National Institute for Public Health.

Rubin, E. L. (1999). Minimizing harm: A new crime policy for modern America. Boulder, Colo:

Westview Press.