Research has shown a relationship between substance use and offending, but the nature of this relationship remains unclear, especially for women. To explore this, 867 female police detainees in New South Wales were interviewed to examine the temporal order of substance use and offending, correlates of substance use and offending, and relationships between social background, substance use, and offending. Offenses relating to substance use, such as possession, were excluded. Canonical correlations revealed a significant association between substance use and offending. Results of t-tests showed that substance use significantly preceded criminal offending. Younger, less-educated women self-reported more heroin and cannabis dependency. Women who self-reported drug dependency had higher levels of offending than those who did not. These results are markedly different from patterns observed in most male offenders. We review the implications of these findings for crime prevention, rehabilitation and substance abuse treatment.
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