Substance-use disorders and psychological distress among police arrestees.

Objectives: To determine the 12-month prevalence of substance-use disorders and psychological morbidity in an Australian arrestee population.

Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study.

Participants And Setting: 288 police arrestees at the Brisbane City Police Watch House in February and March 2001.

Outcome Measures: Prevalence of drug and alcohol disorders; psychological "caseness" according to the 28-item General Health Questionnaire; demographics and index offences.

Results: 86% of the arrestees had at least one substance-use disorder; most had multiple disorders. More than 80% were substance dependent. The predominant substances used were amphetamines, marijuana, opioids and alcohol. 82% of the men and 94% of the women were suffering significant psychological distress.

Conclusions: Development of services for detoxification and treatment of this population is a pressing need. The findings provide crucial information for the planning and implementation of drug courts and court diversion systems.