Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA)

Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth), no part of this publication may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise), be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher. Foreword In Australia, the use of a range of drugs for personal non-medical use is prohibited under an array of State and Federal laws. The laws are designed to prohibit the manufacture, transportation, distribution, and use of these substances under a variety of circumstances. Despite these laws, the illegal use of drugs is a significant social issue. Of particular concern to law enforcement is the extent to which other criminal activity, such as property and violent offending, is associated with illegal drug use. Empirical data on this aspect of the illicit drug market is rare and the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) pilot study is designed to collect information on this specific topic. An important aspect of this pilot study is the collection of urine specimens for drug testing purposes. The DUMA program is designed to provide local law enforcement with recent data on the levels of drug use amongst all detainees, not just those arrested for a drug offence. This paper argues that urine testing is limited in what it can tell us about drug use behaviours, but it is still an important element in monitoring recent drug use. In particular, there has been some research in the criminal justice system that suggests self-reported drug use at the time of detention by police is under-reported—urine testing overcomes this problem. The combination of both drug detection testing and self-reported behaviour is potentially a powerful research methodology to further our understanding of drugs and crime. This enhanced evidence can then be used to both improve and monitor criminal justice interventions to deal with drugs and crime within the community. This paper provides a short overview of urine testing and the various issues associated with this procedure and its application to the (DUMA) program. This project collects urine specimens for drug detection purposes and this paper outlines the surrounding issues and controversies of urinalysis testing. Urinalysis testing is often a two-step process, involving an initial screening test and then, for some classes of drugs, a confirmatory test. Screen …