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The DAST-10 is the drug-use counterpart to the AUDIT. Skinner published it in 1982 as the brief version of the original DAST-28, and CAMH has maintained it as a free-clinical-use instrument since. It covers drugs other than alcohol — prescription misuse, cannabis, stimulants, opioids, sedatives, hallucinogens — over the past 12 months.

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What it measures

Drug-use problems and consequences across 10 yes/no items:
  • Loss of control (using more than intended, inability to stop)
  • Social and occupational consequences (family, work, legal)
  • Withdrawal and dependence symptoms
  • Treatment history
Item 3 is reverse-scored: “Are you always able to stop using drugs when you want to?” A “No” answer counts as 1 point; “Yes” counts as 0. Rivet’s template encodes this directly in the answer-option scoring, so the live-scoring pill is correct without any manual adjustment.

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When to send it

  • Intake substance-use baseline alongside the AUDIT (alcohol) for a full picture
  • Treatment-response monitoring during substance-use work
  • SBIRT protocols where AUDIT alone is incomplete
  • When a CAGE-AID positive screen surfaces drug use specifically and you want the severity gradient
The 10 items take 2–3 minutes. Async administration works well — endorsement of drug use without a clinician present in the room is sometimes more candid.

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Scoring and severity cutoffs

Sum of yes-scored items, range 0–10. Cutoff ≥3 surfaces the “further drug-use assessment indicated” flag.

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DAST-10 vs AUDIT

These are companions, not alternatives. The AUDIT covers alcohol; the DAST-10 covers drugs other than alcohol and tobacco. If both are in the picture — which is common — you run both, and neither one will tell you about the other. If you need one instrument covering both and can accept a flag rather than a severity estimate, that’s the CAGE-AID. For adolescents, the CRAFFT covers alcohol and drugs together in the 12–21 range.

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Is it free to use?

Yes. Free clinical use, per CAMH, the institution where it originated.

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Citation

Skinner, H. A. (1982). The Drug Abuse Screening Test. Addictive Behaviors, 7(4), 363–371. Free clinical use per CAMH (the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health), the original publisher institution.

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When not to use it

The DAST-10 is silent on alcohol — pair it with the AUDIT or AUDIT-C when alcohol is part of the picture. For adolescents (12–21), the CRAFFT is the validated alternative and covers alcohol and drugs in one form.

AUDIT

The 10-item alcohol counterpart.

CRAFFT

The adolescent-specific substance-use screen.