NCJ Number
191831
Journal
Drug and Alcohol Review Volume: 20 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 309-317
Date Published
September 2001
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article describes markers of ethnicity and their effect on measuring illicit drug use by ethnic groups.
Abstract
Different markers of ethnicity have enormous impact on the visibility of ethnic groups; particularly those associated with second- and third-generation migrants. Health-related databases should reflect the multi-cultural nature of the Victorian population if people of different ethnicities are to be catered for adequately and culturally in the provision of health services. Little attempt has been made to achieve this. Many of the sets of indicators of ethnicity used in databases fail to provide adequate information to determine a person’s ethnic or cultural orientation accurately. Reliance on the variable Country of Birth and/or language spoken masks the true extent of illicit drug use in ethnic communities. Illicit drug use problems are often considered to relate directly to the degree of socioeconomic disadvantage experienced, and the Vietnamese community experiences greater socioeconomic disadvantage than the general Victorian population. The disproportionate amount of attention directed towards Vietnamese drug users by the health, legal, and community sectors may explain partially why uptake of methadone treatment is greater for this group. Electronic input of the ethnicity variable into the database should be encouraged, as a wealth of information about the patterns, trends, and demographics of methadone usage among ethnic minority communities is obtainable. Further research could differentiate between the influences of ethnicity, demographic characteristics, and other variables on uptake of methadone treatment. Enhanced understanding of the role played by ethnicity will enable improved delivery of drug treatment services. 1 table, 2 figures, 21 references