Drug Misuse
Drug Misuse
Research suggests that there is a high rate of drug misuse amongst people on probation. Often this is also combined with misuse of alcohol and/or mental illness
A study of the prevalence of non-prescription opioid use amongst a sample of 406 women on probation or parole in the USA found that those using non-prescription opioids were more likely to:
Findings from the Probation Service's Drugs and Alcohol Survey 2011, completed by Probation Officers in Ireland showed that:
In a study of a stratified random sample of 173 offenders on probation in Lincolnshire (UK),12.1% of the sample scored 11+ on the DAST screening tool — indicating either a ‘substantial’or ‘severe’ level of drug abuse (Brooker et al., 2012)
There are also high rates of poly substance misuse amongst people on probation:
42%
Findings from the Probation Service's Drugs and Alcohol Survey 2011 completed by Probation Officers in Ireland showed that 42% had misused both drugs and alcohol, and 20% had misused only alcohol (Martyn, 2012)
35%
A study of Approved Premises residents in the UK found that 35% had a history of both alcohol and drug misuse (Geelan et al., 2000)
In the Lincolnshire study, 72% of those with a current mental illness also had a substance misuse problem (Brooker et al., 2011)
References