'Fight drugs = fight crime'
2005-04-23 11:44
Sydney - An Australian survey released on Saturday shows strong links between narcotics and crime, with almost half the police detainees who were interviewed saying they had used drugs just before their arrest.
About 61%of those charged with property offences tested positive for an illegal drug other than cannabis, the justice ministry said in a statement.
The annual government survey also showed that in 2004, 71% percent of detainees reported obtaining drugs in the month before their arrest while 37% attributed some of their criminal activity to drug use.
Detainees classified as drug-dependent or who had tested positive to methamphetamine or heroin had the highest number of arrests in the previous year.
Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the survey showed the importance of the government's "tough on drugs" programme. "If we make progress in the war on drugs, we make great strides in the fight against crime."
He said methamphetamine use had stabilised at the nine sites surveyed across the country. The proportion of detainees testing positive to heroin remained the same or fell at most sites, apart from a slight increase in Western Sydney.
Nine young Australians are currently under arrest in the Indonesian island of Bali, accused of a plot to smuggle heroin into Sydney. Five of them could face a firing squad if convicted. - AFP
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- SAPA