Ethnic Based Differences in Drug Offending

Abstract
There is a perception in Victoria that some ethnic groups are more heavily involved in illicit drugs than others. The published police and prison statistics appear to support this view. The paper discusses why published statistics show an increase in drug offending by people of Vietnamese birth, describes some of the outcomes of current criminal justice responses to the illicit drug problem in Victoria, and identifies differing offending patterns between drug offenders of “Asian” and “non-Asian” backgrounds. Court and Juvenile Justice key informants’ perceptions of the reasons young “Asian” people become involved with heroin is also briefly discussed.

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