AIC research estimates the role of illicit drugs and alcohol in offending

The AIC has released new research estimating the extent to which illicit drug and alcohol use contributes to criminal offending in Australia. The analysis shows:

  • Of the 2,249 police detainees interviewed for this research, 45 percent attributed their offending to substance use.
  • The substance that offending was most commonly attributed to was methamphetamine (contributing to 28% of offences) followed by alcohol (16% of offences).
  • Substance use contributed to an estimated 156,760 principal offences in Australia during 2019. This included over 95,000 offences attributable to methamphetamine and over 56,000 attributable to alcohol use.

View the report

Media

/Public Release. View in full here.