DRUG-CRIME LINK CLEARER

THREE out of four people arrested in two regions of Sydney tested positive
to illegal drugs.

Researchers said the results showed the link between crime and drug use was
even stronger than expected.

About half the 379 suspected offenders, in the first survey of its kind in
NSW, agreed to be urine tested. More than 75 per cent of those tested
positive to at least one drug.

About 80% of the total group said they had tried cannabis; 55% had tried
heroin and 43% had tried cocaine.

More than half said they had used cannabis in the month before being
arrested; 36% had used heroin and 4pc had used cocaine in that period.

The project, known as Drug Use Monitoring in Australia, is being managed by
the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research and the Australian
Institute of Criminology.

Bureau director Don Weatherburn said: "I think this is probably the most
significant development in evaluating drug-law enforcement in the last few
years."

"The police have learnt very useful stuff from this already."

About 82% of the people who took part in the survey at Parramarta and
Bankstown were men. Half of the group were aged between 20 and 29.

Four out of five people charged with a prop-city offence, such as burglary,
tested positive to at least one illegal drug. The most commonly used drugs
were heroin and cannabis.