Drug link to almost half the crimes of Probation Service clients

Some 81% of the sample reported having misused drugs or alcohol at some point in their lifetime.

The report stated that substance misuse is "a pervasive issue amongst young people". Library Picture: Getty

Almost half of the people involved with the Probation Service had a link between drug misuse and the current offence which had brought them before the courts, according to new research.

The study found that 48% of those in the research sample had a drug link to their crime. It also that suggested early screening and intervention of problematic drink and drug use among younger people might steer them away from offending.

The research was carried out by Louise Rooney, a Postdoctoral Fellow at University College Dublin, and involved data on more than 3,000 people based on information compiled from probation officers' client case files. The study has been published in the most recent edition of the Irish Probation Journal.

It found that 81% of the sample was reported to have misused drugs or alcohol at some point in their lifetime, and 67% were reported to misuse drugs, particularly cannabis. Of the 64% who were reported to have misused alcohol at some point in their lives, in 31% of cases, the level of drinking was deemed harmful, and for 18% it was deemed dependent.

On referral to the Probation Service, a total of 2,169 offenders reported drug misuse to their probation officers, and one-third were engaged with some form of medical intervention.

The highest prevalence rates of combined drug and alcohol misuse were observed for clients aged 25–34 years, with a peak prevalence rate of 61%, identifying them as the most at-risk group for drug and alcohol misuse on presentation to the Probation Service," it said, with binge-drinking highest among clients aged 18–24 years.

It said substance misuse is "a pervasive issue amongst young people" and young persons probation was "an opportune juncture for effective screening, followed by the delivery of substance misuse education, prevention, awareness, and early intervention programmes where appropriate".

However, it said "the Probation Service has contact with only a small subset of this population", and the scale of the problem "warrants a collaborative multi-agency response that includes HSE, community-based youth programmes, An Garda Síochána, Tusla, and Drug Task Forces, [and] education services".