Ethnic communities' vulnerability to involvement with illicit drugs

In this article, socio-economic and cultural factors which heighten vulnera bility to involvement with illicit drugs and disproportionately impact upon ethnic minority communities are described. The concepts and themes derived from a review of international literature (mostly from the USA and other E nglish-speaking nations) on factors associated with vulnerability to illici t drug use in ethnic minority communities worldwide were compared with the outcomes of our own investigation into the involvement of ethnic communitie s in Victoria, Australia with illicit drugs. Several factors which increase vulnerability to illicit drug use were identified in the literature review ; our research showed that the same determinants are at work among ethnic m inority communities in Victoria. These factors are high unemployment, poor proficiency in English, poor access to education and lower educational atta inment, inter-generational conflict, acculturation issues and peer pressure . These factors can be distilled into a more general underlying problem, wh ich is that ethnic minority communities are socially and economically disad vantaged. Cultural and socio-economic handicaps heighten ethnic communities ' vulnerability to involvement with the illicit drug market and use of illi cit drugs, and that vulnerability is compounded by poor knowledge of drug t reatment services and difficulties in gaining access to them.