Offending, custody and opioid substitution therapy treatment utilisation among opioid-dependent people in contact with the criminal justice system: comparison of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians

BMC Public Health

Louisa Degenhardt⁵  Don J Weatherburn¹  Tony Butler⁶  Lucy Burns³  Michael Doyle⁶  Anton Clifford⁷  Megan Williams⁴  Jo Kimber³  Sarah Larney²  Amy Gibson⁸  Natasa Gisev³ 

[1]New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), Sydney, NSW, Australia

[2]Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

[3]National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

[4]School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

[5]School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

[6]The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

[7]School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

[8]Centre for Health Research, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

关键词: Data linkage;    Prisons;    Crime;    Opioid substitution treatment;    Opioid-related disorders;    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people;    Indigenous population;   

Others  :  1127977
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-920

 received in 2014-03-10, accepted in 2014-07-29,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Although Indigenous Australians are over-represented among heroin users, there has been no study examining offending, time in custody, and opioid substitution therapy (OST) treatment utilisation among Indigenous opioid-dependent (including heroin) people at the population level, nor comparing these to non-Indigenous opioid-dependent people. The aims of this study were to compare the nature and types of charges, time in custody and OST treatment utilisation between opioid-dependent Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in contact with the criminal justice system.

Methods

This was a population-based, retrospective data linkage study using records of OST entrants in New South Wales, Australia (1985–2010), court appearances (1993–2011) and custody episodes (2000–2012). Charge rates per 100 person-years were compared between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by sex, age and calendar year. Statistical comparisons were made for variables describing the cumulative time and percentage of follow-up time spent in custody, as well as characteristics of OST initiation and overall OST treatment utilisation.

Results

Of the 34,962 people in the cohort, 6,830 (19.5%) were Indigenous and 28,132 (80.5%) non-Indigenous. Among the 6,830 Indigenous people, 4,615 (67.6%) were male and 2,215 (32.4%) female. The median number of charges per person against Indigenous people (25, IQR 31) was significantly greater than non-Indigenous people (9, IQR 16) (p < 0.001). Overall, Indigenous people were charged with 33.2% of the total number of charges against the cohort and 44.0% of all violent offences. The median percentage of follow-up time that Indigenous males and females spent in custody was twice that of non-Indigenous males (21.7% vs. 10.1%, p < 0.001) and females (6.0% vs. 2.9%, p < 0.001). The percentage of Indigenous people who first commenced OST in prison (30.2%) was three times that of non-Indigenous people (11.2%) (p < 0.001). Indigenous males spent less time in OST compared to non-Indigenous males (median percentage of follow-up time in treatment: 40.5% vs. 43.1%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Compared to non-Indigenous opioid-dependent people, Indigenous opioid-dependent people in contact with the criminal justice system are charged with a greater number of offences, spend longer in custody and commonly initiate OST in prison. Hence, contact with the criminal justice system provides an important opportunity to engage Indigenous people in OST.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Gisev et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Vos T, Barker B, Begg S, Stanley L, Lopez AD: Burden of disease and injury in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: the Indigenous health gap. Int J Epidemiol 2009, 38:470-477.
• [2]Australian Bureau of Statistics: 3238.0.55.001 - Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, June 2011. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3238.0.55.001 webcite
• [3]Iversen J, Maher L: Australian Needle and Syringe Program National Data Report 2008–2012. Sydney: The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales; 2013.
• [4]Miller CL, Johnston C, Spittal PM, Li K, LaLiberté N, Montaner JSG, Schechter MT: Opportunities for prevention: hepatitis C prevalence and incidence in a cohort of young injection drug users. Hepatology 2002, 36:737-742.
• [5]The Kirby Institute: Bloodborne Viral and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Annual Survelliance Report 2013. Sydney: The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales; 2013.
• [6]Craib KJP, Spittal PM, Wood E, Laliberte N, Hogg RS, Li K, Heath K, Tyndall MW, O’Shaughnessy MV, Schechter MT: Risk factors for elevated HIV incidence among Aboriginal injection drug users in Vancouver. CMAJ 2003, 168:19-24.
• [7]Brzozowski J-A, Taylor-Butts A, Johnson S: Victimization and offending among the Aboriginal population in Canada. vol. 26. Ottawa: Ministry of Industry, Statistics Canada; 2006.
• [8]Day A: Reducing the risk of re-offending in Australian Indigenous offenders: what works for whom? J Offender Rehabil 2003, 37:1-15.
• [9]Australian Bureau of Statistics: 4517.0 - Prisoners in Australia. 2013. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/cat/4517.0 webcite
• [10]Weatherburn D, Holmes J: Re-thinking Indigenous over-representation in prison. Aust J Soc Issues 2010, 45:559-576.
• [11]Putt J, Payne J, Milner L: Indigenous male offending and sustance abuse. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology; 2005. [Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No 293]
• [12]Commonwealth of Australia: Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/IndigLRes/rciadic/ webcite
• [13]Snowball L, Weatherburn D: Does racial bias in sentencing contribute to Indigenous over-representation in prison? Aust N Z J Criminol 2007, 40:272-290.
• [14]Bond CEW, Jeffries S, Weatherburn D: How much time? Indigenous status and the sentenced imprisonment term decision in New South Wales. Aust N Z J Criminol 2011, 44:272-290.
• [15]Weatherburn D, Snowball L, Hunter B: Predictors of Indigenous arrest: an exploratory study. Aust N Z J Criminol 2008, 41:307-322.
• [16]Mattick RP, Breen C, Kimber J, Davoli M: Buprenorphine maintenance versus placebo or methadone maintenance for opioid dependence. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2014., (2) Art.No.: CD002207
• [17]Mattick RP, Breen C, Kimber J, Davoli M: Methadone maintenance therapy versus no opioid replacement therapy for opioid dependence. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2009., (3) Art.No.:CD002209
• [18]Strang J, Babor T, Caulkins J, Fischer B, Foxcroft D, Humphreys K: Drug policy and the public good: evidence for effective interventions. Lancet 2012, 379:71-83.
• [19]Bart G: Maintenance medication for opiate addiction: the foundation of recovery. J Addict Dis 2012, 31:207-225.
• [20]Kelly SM, O’Grady KE, Mitchell SG, Brown BS, Schwartz RP: Predictors of methadone treatment retention from a multi-site study: a survival analysis. Drug Alcohol Depend 2011, 117:170-175.
• [21]Gryczynski J, Schwartz RP, Salkever DS, Mitchell SG, Jaffe JH: Patterns in admission delays to outpatient methadone treatment in the United States. J Subst Abuse Treat 2011, 41:431-439.
• [22]Mancino M, Curran G, Han X, Allee E, Humphreys K, Booth BM: Preditors of attrition from a national sample of methadone maintenance patients. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 2010, 36:155-160.
• [23]Wood E, Montaner JS, Li K, Barney L, Tyndall MW, Kerr T: Rate of methadone use among Aboriginal opioid injection drug users. CMAJ 2007, 177:37-40.
• [24]Black A, Khan S, Brown R, Sharp P, Chatfield H, McGuiness C: An evaluation of opioid replacement pharmacotherapy in an urban Aboriginal Health Service. Aust N Z J Public Health 2007, 31:428-432.
• [25]Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: National opioid pharmacotherapy statistics annual data collection 2012. AIHW Drug treatment series No. 20. Cat. no. HSE 136. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2013.
• [26]Burns L, Randall D, Hall WD, Law M, Butler T, Bell J, Degenhardt L: Opioid agonist pharmacotherapy in New South Wales from 1985 to 2006: patient characteristics and patterns and predictors of treatment retention. Addiction 2009, 104:1363-1372.
• [27]Bell J, Trinh L, Butler B, Randall D, Rubin G: Comparing retention in treatment and mortality in people after initial entry to methadone and buprenorphine treatment. Addiction 2009, 104:1193-1200.
• [28]Hua J, Fitzgerald J: Matching court records to measure re-offending. Crime and Justice Bulletin 2006, 95:1-12.
• [29]Hser Y, Hoffman V, Grella CE, Anglin MD: A 33-year follow-up of narcotics addicts. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2001, 58:503-508.
• [30]Calabria B, Degenhardt L, Briegleb C, Vos T, Hall W, Lynskey M, Callaghan B, Rana U, McLaren J: Systematic review of prospective studies investigating “remission” from amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine or opioid dependence. Addict Behav 2011, 35:741-749.
• [31]Pink B: Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC). 3rd edition. http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/5CE97E870F7A29EDCA2578A200143125/$File/12340_2011.pdf webcite
• [32]Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research: Is Violent Crime Increasing in NSW? NSW Recorded Crime Statistics Quarterly Update September. 2010. http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/rcs_quarterly.pdf/$file/rcs_quarterly.pdf webcite
• [33]Degenhardt L, Conroy E, Gilmour S, Collins L: The effect of a reduction in heroin supply in Australia upon drug distribution and acquisitive crime. Br J Criminol 2005, 45:2-24.
• [34]Degenhardt L, Day C, Gilmour S, Hall W: The “lessons” of the Australian “heroin shortage“. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy 2006, 1:11. BioMed Central Full Text
• [35]Hann RG, Harman WG: 1996 offender classification: two decades of progress. Crim Justice Behav 1993, 23:121-143.
• [36]Bonta J, LaPrairie C, Wallace-Capretta S: Risk prediction and re-offending: Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders. Can J Criminol 1997, 39:127-144.
• [37]Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012: detailed analyses. Cat. no. IHW 94. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2013.
• [38]Kinner SA, George J, Campbell G, Degenhardt L: Crime, drugs and distress: patterns of drug use and harm among criminally involved injecting drug users in Australia. Aust N Z J Public Health 2009, 33:223-227.
• [39]Borland J, Hunter B: Does crime affect employment status? The case of Indigenous Australians. Economica 2000, 67:123-144.
• [40]Carson B, Dunbar T, Chenhall RD, Bailie R: Social Determinants of Indigenous Health. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin; 2007.
• [41]Wundersitz J: Indigenous perpetrators of violence: prevalence and risk factors for offending. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology; 2010. [AIC Reports: Research and Public Policy Series 105]
• [42]Memmott P, Stacy R, Chambers C, Keys C: Violence in Indigenous communities: full report. Canberra: Crime Prevention Branch, Attorney-General’s Department; 2001.
• [43]Calabria B, Doran CM, Vos T, Shakeshaft AP, Hall W: Epidemiology of alcohol-related burden of disease among Indigenous Australians. Aust N Z J Public Health 2010, 34:S47-S51.
• [44]Makki T, Payne J: Drugs and crime: a study of incarcerated male offenders. In AIC Reports: Research and Public Policy Series No 52. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology; 2003.
• [45]Loxley W, Adams K: Women, drug use and crime: findings from the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program. In AIC Reports: Research and Public Policy Series 99. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology; 2009.
• [46]Bartels L: Indigenous women’s offending patterns: literature review. In AIC Reports: Research and Public Policy Series 107. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology; 2010.
• [47]Hill K, Barker B, Vos T: Excess Indigenous mortality: are Indigenous Australians more severely disadvantaged than other Indigenous populations? Int J Epidemiol 2007, 36:580-589.
• [48]Degenhardt L, Larney S, Gisev N, Trevena J, Burns L, Kimber J, Shanahan M, Butler T, Matttick R, Weatherburn D: Imprisonment of opioid-dependent people in New South Wales, Australia, 2000–2012: retrospective linkage study. Aust N Z J Public Health 2013, 38:165-170.
• [49]Butler T, Boonwaat L, Hailstone S, Falconer T, Lems P, Ginley T, Read V, Smith N, Levy M, Dore G, Kaldor J: The Australian prison entrants’ blood-borne virus and risk behaviour survey. Aust N Z J Public Health 2004, 2007(31):44-50.
• [50]Kinner SA, Jenkinson R, Gouillou M, Milloy MJ: High-risk drug-use practices among a large sample of Australian prisoners. Drug Alcohol Depend 2012, 126:156-160.
• [51]Gossop M, Marsden J, Stewart D, Rolfe A: Reductions in acquisitive crime and drug use after treatment of addiction problems: 1-year follow-up outcomes. Drug Alcohol Depend 2000, 58:165-172.
• [52]Lind B, Chen S, Weatherburn D, Mattick R: The effectiveness of methadone maintenance treatment in controlling crime: an Australian aggregate-level analysis. Br J Criminol 2005, 45:201-211.
• [53]Vorma H, Sokero P, Aaltonen M, Turtiainen S, Hughes LA, Savolainen J: Participation in opioid substitution treatment reduces the rate of criminal convictions: Evidence from a community study. Addict Behav 2013, 38:2313-2316.
• [54]Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: The health of Australia’s prisoners 2012. Cat. no. PHE 170. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2013.
• [55]Rodas A, Bode A, Dolan K: Supply, demand and harm reduction strategies in Australian prisons: An update. Canberra: Australian National Council on Drugs; 2011.
• [56]Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2010: detailed analyses. Cat. no. IHW 53. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2011.
• [57]Indig D, McEntyre E, Page J, Ross B: 2009 NSW inmate health survey: Aboriginal health report. Sydney: Justice Health; 2010.
• [58]Kariminia A, Butler T, Jones J, Law M: Increased mortality among Indigenous persons during and after release from prison in New South Wales. Aust N Z J Public Health 2012, 36:274-280.
• [59]Mental Health and Drug & Alcohol Office, NSW Department of Health: New South Wales Opioid Treatment Program: clinical guidelines for methadone and buprenorphine treatment of opioid dependence. Sydney: NSW Department of Health; 2006.
• [60]Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: National Opioid Pharmacotherapy Statistics Annual Data Collection 2012. In Drug treatment series no 20. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2013.
• [61]Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: National best practice guidelines for collecting Indigenous status in health data sets. Cat. no. IHW 29. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2010.
• [62]Randall DA, Lujic S, Leyland AH, Jorm LR: Statistical methods to enhance reporting of Aboriginal Australians in routine hospital records using data linkage affect estimates of health disparities. Aust N Z J Public Health 2013, 37:442-449.
• [63]Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Report on the use of linked data relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Cat. no. IHW 92. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2013.