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.
