title: Monitoring substance use in prisons: Assessing the potential value of wastewater analysis.
abstract: Prison substance use is a major concern for prison authorities and the wider community. Australia has responded to this problem by implementing the National Corrections Drug Strategy. Across Australia, the true extent of prison substance use cannot be determined. As a result, the effectiveness of the interventions employed as part of this strategy cannot be properly assessed. This has important implications for the allocation of corrective services resources and future policy development. This article explores the benefits and limitations, as well as the ethical and practical issues in using wastewater analysis (WWA) to measure levels of substance use in prisons. It reports results from the first application of WWA to an Australian prison, which supports the use of WWA in this context. Given the increasing concern for prescription misuse in prisons, we also highlight the novel use of WWA to measure the extent of prescription misuse by prisoners. The article concludes that as a result of its objectivity, sensitivity and cost-effectiveness, the use of WWA in prisons warrants further consideration in Australia.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Law, The University of Tasmania, Australia. Electronic address: Emma.vanDyken@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Dyken
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, The University of Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Phong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thai
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, The University of Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Foon Yin
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland; Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), The University of Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ort
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Law, The University of Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prichard
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Raimondo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruno
authors.affiliation: Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, The University of Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Flinders University, Australia.
authors.forename: K Paul
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Kirkbride
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, The University of Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jochen F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mueller
keywords: Australia; Drug-monitoring; Drug-use; Prison; Sewage epidemiology