A new study has uncovered an unexpectedly high rate of prescription drug use among people detained by police, with one in four obtaining the drugs from illegal sources.
Drugs such as methadone, used as a heroin substitute in treatment of addiction, were procured mostly on legal prescriptions.
But others, such as the tranquiliser valium and dexamphetamine, used for treatment of attention deficit disorder, were procured illegally, often from family members and friends who had obtained the drug legitimately by prescription.
The research was conducted through the Australian Institute of Criminology Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program, launched in 1999 to assess street-level use of drugs.
It involves detainees answering a questionnaire on their drug use, followed by a voluntary urine test.
In light of concerns about illegal distribution of prescription drugs, DUMA has been expanded to include information on the use of a range of prescription drugs.
As well as methadone and dexamphetamines, DUMA asked about buprenorphine (a painkiller and heroin substitute), benzodiazepines (common tranquillizers such as valium) and morphine (a painkiller).
Of 825 adult police detainees surveyed at selected police lockups, 36 per cent admitted using at least one of the five drugs in the past year.
Benzodiazepines were the most common (used by 25 per cent), followed by morphine (12 per cent), buphrenorphene (eight per cent), methadone (seven per cent) and dexamphetamine (four per cent).
The study concluded that one in four police detainees surveyed had used illegally obtained pharmaceutical drugs, with a significant number reporting pharmaceuticals were readily available from street dealers.
Fourteen per cent received at least one pharmaceutical drug from family and friends without payment.
Doctors needed to ensure patients who were legitimately prescribed certain drugs clearly understood that it was illegal to redistribute them, the study said.
Front page
RSS Feed