Australian courts are seeing increasing numbers of illicit drug crimes, according to new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The rate of court matters where the defendant's primary offence was an illicit drug charge has grown from seven per cent in 2010-11 to 10 per cent in 2014-15.
Those illicit drug crimes include use, possession, manufacturing, cultivation, trafficking and importing drugs, and "other illicit drug offences".
Those other offences have seen the most rapid increase before the courts, while manufacturing and cultivating have seen the slowest increase.
All matters finalised in court where illicit drugs were the primary offence have increased since 2010-11.
ABS Director of Crime and Justice Statistics William Milne said the number of cases where the defendant’s principle offence was an illicit drug offence had grown 51 per cent between the periods 2010-11 and 2014-15.
Almost nine in 10 defendants of illicit drug cases were found guilty, Mr Milne said.
SBS asked the Victoria and NSW police departments if they were devoting more resources to catching people for illicit drug crimes or if the numbers of finalised drug-related court matters had increased for some other reason.
Victoria Police told SBS there had been an increased presence of illicit drugs in Victoria, and this is an ongoing concern for police.
"Drug use is a whole of community issue, and the solution is outside the scope of law enforcement intervention alone," a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
The NSW statistics were a reflection of the ongoing efforts of police to target illegal drug crime, according to NSW Police Force Organised Crime Director, Detective Chief Superintendent Ken Finch.
In NSW, the rate of illicit drug-related finalised court matters resembles the national statistics.
The Victorian statistics also showed an increase in illicit drugs as the primary offence in finalised court cases, although the rate for Victoria did not increase as rapidly as NSW or Australia in total.
The most recent Drug and Alcohol Survey from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare also said the use of illicit drugs - including the misuse of pharmaceuticals - was on the increase.
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