The deterrence effects of Australian drug law enforcement

The Australian government expends an estimated $1.7 billion on responding to illicit drugs every year, with policing comprising 64% of this expenditure. One core assumption underpinning this investment is that police can deter, discourage or prevent drug offending. It is argued that drug laws and enforcement of those laws will reduce involvement in drug use and trafficking. But, there remains very limited research into the extent or nature of deterrent effects. One cause of this gap is methodological. The absence of attention to this issue is increasingly problematic as there is concern that some of the newer "deterrent" strategies, such as drug detection dogs, may lead to adverse impacts.

This project aimed to provide the first comprehensive assessment of the deterrent effects of street-level Australian drug law enforcement at two common settings of policing (outdoor music festivals and licensed entertainment precincts).

This project had two key components. First, a purpose-built national online survey (the Drug Policing Survey) was constructed using ten experimental deterrence vignettes that took into account four different policing strategies (including drug detection dogs and collaborative policing) versus a counter-factual (no police presence) and two different settings (outdoor music festivals and licensed entertainment precincts). The survey was administered to a national sample of people who regularly attend festivals, clubs and pubs and used to assess the prevalence and nature of illicit drug use, possession, purchasing and supply given “police presence” versus “police absence” and any differential impacts of the four policing strategies on offending engagement.

Second, a mobile app (the Going Out In Sydney app) was constructed to enable real time monitoring of alcohol and drug use and police encounters at festivals, clubs and pubs in Sydney over a three month period. The app was used to log key details including: 1) where patrons went (e.g. festival, nightclub); (2) the prevalence and nature of any alcohol or illicit drug use; and (3) the incidence and nature of any police encounters.