A.C.T. Drug Indicators Project, 1987-1989

This study is one element in the ACT Drug Indicators Project which aims to produce a system to attempt to estimate the incidence, prevalence and character of illegal drug use in the ACT area and to monitor relative changes in drug use levels and patterns over time. Two different questionnaires were used to obtain data, one filled in by participating drug treatment agencies on each new admission (1729) and the other filled in by police on each drug arrest (774). The drug treatment and welfare agencies were able to obtain more detailed information on drug use and drug treatment while the police were able to obtain more detailed information on current and prior criminal charges. The main variables from the police questionnaire included: drug use; presenting/primary drug; prior criminal record; current criminal charges and drug charge types. The main variables from the drug agencies included: drug use; presenting/primary drug; mode of drug use; frequency of use; referral source and previous drug treatment. Background variables included: sex, residential area, marital status, age, country of birth, Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal, accommodation type, employment status, number of children under 18 and number of children under 18 living with the client.