The devastation of ice: Where has my son gone?

Updated March 25, 2015 17:30:48

A report released today by the Australian Crime Commission outlines the harm that ice is doing to communities across Australia. In this article, an anonymous mother reveals the personal cost of the drug.

My son, who is 35 years of age, used to be a fun-loving man with a very friendly nature and an awesome sense of humour. Until he commenced using ice.

Over the past 12 months, I have witnessed his behaviour, appearance and his personality change, from the once fun-loving person who enjoyed life to a man who I don't seem to know anymore.

My son has always been work conscious and has always had a good work ethic, but this has declined rapidly recently. As a mother, I am struggling everyday with the unknown. The unknown of what today will bring for my son; the unknown for the tomorrow.

I have witnessed him becoming aggressive in the way he speaks and he now has an "I don't care" attitude. He is losing weight rapidly and doesn't seem to want to visit with his children from whom he is separated. Each night, before I go to sleep, I whisper prayers to keep my son safe and to give me some guidance in what I need to do to help him.

Read the Australian Crime Commission's report: The Australian methylamphetamine market.

My son's recent journey has cost me a lot. Not only in monetary value, paying for his bills that get left behind, but my own confidence has been shattered at times. I have never felt like giving up on him and will continue to support him wherever I can, but there has to come a time where I am going to have to play the role of tough love.

I know my son needs rehabilitation but to get him to see that he needs it is a different matter.

My role in my community is a counsellor, therefore I struggle with working with people that have presented with addictions and am tending to refer them on to another service so they can get the best quality service as I feel I can't give them the assistance they need at this particular time.

I would have never thought my son would fall victim to drugs because, as a child, we had the best time doing a lot of recreational fun activities, including involvement in sport and listening to music. He was very socially-active.

Now I see a man with no power and it breaks my heart.

This article was originally published by ABC Open. Read the original version.

It was written by a Circular Head, Tasmania mother who accesses services at Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation (CHAC). CHAC has commenced a film project with Rural Health Tasmania and Circular Head Council to raise awareness about the impact of ice and other drug use in the local community.

Topics: drugs-and-substance-abuse

First posted March 25, 2015 17:24:30

Comments (140)

Comments for this story are closed.

  • A pocketful of wry:

    25 Mar 2015 5:46:05pm

    I'm not sure if (a) you want to hear this, or (b) you can act on it even if you do, but no mother of a 35 year-old man in a situation like this has to lay awake at night wondering what SHE did wrong and how much of it is HER fault.

    I can see it in my heart to offer help to both of you should you choose to seek it, but only sympathy for you.

    As I said, I'm pretty certain that doesn't meet your needs right now. Perhaps keep the words for another time in the future. Best wishes.

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    • I think I think:

      25 Mar 2015 7:22:25pm

      As a mother, I doubt she will take much from your words that choose to sympathise only with her predicament, apow. Addiction is a mental health issue, I don't see the point in kicking people who are already down, but have at it if it makes you feel morally superior.

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      • Rattan:

        26 Mar 2015 8:55:37am

        she won't

        but it does take a village to raise a child, and they will be influenced by many other actors in their life, for good or ill

        i advocate the lash for thoes in the trade, but help for thoes addicited

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      • Blzbob:

        26 Mar 2015 9:25:04am

        I think I think or perhaps you don't. No one was kicking anyone while they were down, but you seemed to come in with boots flying.

        We have nothing to offer this mother other than our best wishes and empathy, and if we are decent we will offer the same to her son.

        I hope that he someday finds the strength to turn around and walk away from the road he is on, be cause it is a road that leads to nowhere. other than an early and lonely grave.
        I know, because on of my best mates has taken that road before him and he never came back.

        Take care not to blame the victim, and rather blame the perpetrators who are getting rich from this stuff, often the ones producing and importing it don't even use it themselves. The only thing they use is the frailties and misfortune of others.

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    • floss:

      26 Mar 2015 12:15:00am

      Quite so, Wry. Trying to assign blame does nothing to solve the problem of addiction. When deaths from abuse of prescription drugs exceed those from illicit drug use, as they do at present, then we know that society broadly accepts drug usage as normal.

      Why do so many feel the need to escape their own reality? There are other ways to participate in virtual reality, ones that are not so addictive.

      As those who become addicted to alcohol know, it is permanent. It is up to the individual to choose not to consume it, a choice made each and every time the substance is on offer. Nobody can make that choice for another, the responsibility lies with the one who chooses to consume.

      It is a great love which can set a person free to make his or her own decisions, while knowing that one possible decision may be self destruction. May you both find the peace of mind you seek.

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      • mike:

        26 Mar 2015 12:52:44pm

        Divorce and separation often lead to substance problems in men. This case sounds like another one of those.

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        • GRF:

          26 Mar 2015 3:07:11pm

          You have hit the nail on the head, Mike. Yes, the decay in general social morality, the undermining of marriage by liberal divorce laws, payments encouraging childbirth outside marriage and now attempts to equate marriage with homosexuality are leading to the destruction of marriage and the biological family. And with that there is the loss of grandparents and extended family. Without this basic biological foundation Civilisations collapse. What we are seeing are just some of the symptoms of the now almost inevitable demise of Western Civilisation.

          The end will come sooner than most think.

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    • Todd:

      26 Mar 2015 10:36:10am

      Absolutely. These are his choices. I would certainly not deem your son a victim anymore than any other substance abuser. Unfortunately for him, his substance is illegal and VERY expensive. The bind you are in, I am sure, is do you help fund it or, worse, refuse him the money, thereby maybe leading him down an irrecoverable life of crime. yours are not easy choices and my heart goes out to you. Your son sounds like another victim of prohibition.

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    • Peter of Melbourne:

      26 Mar 2015 1:02:19pm

      its ok wry

      lets just legalise it and all the problems will go away

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      • Clicky The Robot:

        26 Mar 2015 1:31:41pm

        we'll be left with the same amount of addiction to deal with, but most of the other problems will indeed go away.

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        • MD:

          26 Mar 2015 2:01:15pm

          No you won't. The number of addicts is proportional to the total number of users. Legalizing will undoubtedly greatly increase the number of users and therefore you will have a greatly increased number of addicts to deal with. That's why you don't find many rehab clinics for alcoholics in muslim countries (it's the sociocultural prohibition that works though, not the legal one). That's also why we have a HUGE problem in this country with addiction to prescription opiates - it's because of their availability and the lack of stigma attached to their use for non-cancer chronic pain (for which they not effective anyway).

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        • Clicky The Robot:

          26 Mar 2015 2:18:39pm

          "Legalizing will undoubtedly greatly increase the number of users "

          Please supply evidence. Drugs are legal in a few countries, it should be easy to find.

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        • Peter of Melbourne:

          26 Mar 2015 2:04:10pm

          so YOU say and yet the reality is far different as the rest of society is stuck once again paying for your little egotistical whims

          as far as i am concerned they can stay as illegal substances and bugger your worthless little egos and wants

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        • Ann:

          26 Mar 2015 2:22:03pm

          Actually Clicky there are few places out there where drugs themselves are legal. In most places, such as Portugal, they are simply "not illegal". That is, there is no criminal charges for using them.

          That is a benefit to society because people can get help with less stigma and without fear of arrest. However it does not dry up the trade. Even if the government were to grow/import/make its own drugs and sell them as the only legal source, criminal cartels would still undercut them. (Just as they do with cigarettes)

          We need to reject the use of hard drugs as a society for it to diminish.

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        • Zing:

          26 Mar 2015 3:48:44pm

          Some people believe the solution is decriminalising drugs and providing treatment centres. Other people believe we should criminalise drugs and lock up users.

          I believe in a combined approach. It sounds contradictory, but can be done in four simple parts:

          1. Legalise the drugs.
          2. Open up the treatment centres for about five years.
          3. Re-criminalise the drugs and allow for retrospective convictions.
          4. Use the treatment centre records to identify and arrest anyone who attended the centres over the five year period.

          Surprised nobody proposed it until now, really.

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      • MD:

        26 Mar 2015 1:42:14pm

        I realize you are being sarcastic but that is exactly what a lot of people say. Well, you legalize this stuff at your peril.

        "ICE" is the crystalline form of methamphetamine, the main effect of which in the brain is to cause the release (and block the reuptake) of dopamine and noradrenalin (excitatory neurotransmitters) in certain parts of the brain, including those in which we experience pleasure. If you stimulate the same areas using implanted electrodes in animals including humans, which has the same effect but is more direct, they will self-stimulate themselves to exhaustion or even death if allowed to. That is what you are dealing with.

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        • Clicky The Robot:

          26 Mar 2015 2:10:38pm

          "in animals including humans... they will self-stimulate themselves to exhaustion or even death if allowed to."

          A recent study showed animals, when given something else to do (toys, food, sex, social companions), don't bother much with the drugs. Can't remember the study but it was on RN Life Matters a few weeks ago.

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        • MD:

          26 Mar 2015 3:09:05pm

          With the best will in the world, I sincerely doubt that an ice addict (have you ever met one?) will ever prefer "something else to do" over a hit. That's the problem - they don't!

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        • Clicky The Robot:

          26 Mar 2015 5:05:33pm

          I think my point was that average people who do have other things going for them are not likely to take it up, for the same reasons they don't now. The other factor is bang for buck - ice is cheap and powerful, just like cask wine or metho, two other drugs that cause a lot of carnage.

          The obvious solution is to do something about poverty and disaffection. But I don't expect anything soon as it takes a generation or two to make a societal change (think seat belts, drink driving, tobacco) and politicians these days have nothing but the next election in mind.

          Meanwhile, like others, I think it's a health problem. And I think most addicts would be addicts of something else if ice didn't exist. Ban it all as they do places up north and you get petrol and paint sniffing. Ban that and you'll have people spinning around till they pass out. Poverty and disaffection.

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        • MD:

          26 Mar 2015 6:46:13pm

          Except that ice addicts are not all poor and disaffected people and other people do take it up. The current incidence of ice abuse in Australia is frightening and it is increasing despite having the highest street price in the world per gram.

          Most of those I see are adults from middle and upper-middle class city families, while one of my colleagues sees mainly indigenous people from outlying country towns (they let off crackers when a new shipment comes into town so everyone knows). I see lawyers, car dealers, professional sportsmen, tradies, school kids, ordinary mums and dads. It gets them all.

          This muck makes people feel not just good, but GREAT. It is highly addictive, and when they become psychotic and aggressive or have serious physical issues, as many of them do, that's when I see them. Ice is not the same as other drugs, if you think it is as you seem to then you haven't seen what it does. I think that's my point and a lot of other people's too.

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  • Good Grief:

    25 Mar 2015 5:56:43pm

    My condolences. I personally see these drugs as a weapon against humanity. If what separates us humans from less intelligent creatures is our self awareness, free will, and sound of mind, drugs takes those away from us momentarily in the short term, and permanently in the long run.

    Judging by the comments a few weeks back for those who defended the actions of the Bali 9 (painted as unwitting victims of demand, rather than peddlers of misery), I anticipate less empathetic comments incoming about how this is your son's own fault, or that he should know better. I personally see that as being "victim blaming", but hey, everybody has their views.

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    • bobtonnor:

      26 Mar 2015 9:05:47am

      I cant put myself in this women shoes, god forbid i ever have to, and like, hopefully, anyone else i can only offer my sympathy. However, drugs have been a part of the human condition since we dropped out the trees a couple of million years ago, what do you think alcohol is? Monkey's were feasting on fermenting fruit eon's ago, litterally before man walked the earth. Illicit Drugs are not evil, they do no more, in fact less damage than alcohol or tobacco, personally i think all drugs should be decrimilised, cut out the criminal element and you have a safer, regulated product. Ice, street amphetamine's in general are made from some very nasty chemicals, and it would seem that a very large quantity of ice these days is imported for the simple reason that its very expensive to buy in Austalia compared to overseas. I dont think there is probably that much difference in the quality or make up of the imported version but its highly likely that corners will be cut and very dangerous chemicals used in the overseas version, i mean what are you going to do if the ice you ordered turns out to be deadly? send it back? If the govt was to decriminilise, at the very least, and taxed the more common drugs, such as cannabis, the money could be ploughed back into education programmes, specialist counselling services and treatment programmes. Its not a win, win situation but it would be a damn sight better system (or lack of) that we have today. Then maybe, just maybe this lady and her son would have an easier, more navigable, more structured and better funded alternative to get their lives back on track.

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  • Dove:

    25 Mar 2015 6:06:49pm

    I am moved and humbled by such a first hand account. Brace yourselves for those who will say it's all your fault, harden up and sort it out. I know them by name and they'll be posting below

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    • OUB :

      25 Mar 2015 6:48:00pm

      Not me bud. At times it seemed everyone on this site was happy to go along with the 'decriminalise everything' theme that The Drum had going here 12 months or so ago, happy to ignore the consequences to the users who can easily get trapped in a downward destructive cycle. Perhaps you were one of those advocates Dove?

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      • Applaudanum:

        26 Mar 2015 8:26:37am

        Not all drugs have this 'downward spiral' usage pattern. The downward spiral is a result of 'addictive-ness' and chemical dependency. They try it for the party, then they try it between parties, then they're hooked. This is precisely why drug dealers are dealing Ice, they can guarantee multiple resales.

        If the non-addictive drugs were decriminalised, casual party goers wouldn't be risking 'addiction-roulette' by going to the ice dealer. A safer, cheaper, product would be available and they wouldn't always be looking over their shoulder or overly suspicious of people they don't know because there is no fear of arrest. Which party goer is going to support the dealers when decriminalised products are available?

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        • Kimberley Girl:

          26 Mar 2015 9:43:59am

          Can you tell me of any non addictive drug that is not legal? And don't even think of saying cannabis because it's horrifically addictive and I have witnessed people go from a casual social hit to someone who starts the day with a bucket bong then proceeds to spend the rest of the day topping up their doped up state. They have lost their job, bankrupted their family and disengaged with their children. And this is not an isolated incident.

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        • Applaudanum :

          26 Mar 2015 11:39:09am

          I should have said less-addictive rather than non-addictive above. Various factors have an effect upon the addictive-ness of a substance: the chemical makeup, whether ithe type of use is habit forming, the number of people per x amount of users that could reliably expected to become addicted. As Scotty A says below, we are pushing young people towards dealers who are only interested in selling the number 1 game in town. Forget about those who want a safer substance once a week or once a fortnight, maybe, if there's an event on, the dealers want the guaranteed sales that highly addictive and habit forming drugs can provide.

          Criminalisation of a substance changes the way it is used. People are more likely to binge on the substance while it is available, thus opening themselves to a greater risk of chemical dependancy down the track. Then there's the fact that decriminalisation allows for the 'additives' or addictive qualities to be limited because the substance can then be made by professional labs at a cheaper rate.

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        • Clicky The Robot:

          26 Mar 2015 1:33:04pm


          Do you have anything more substantial to show it is addictive? Poor choices are not the same as addiction.

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        • blerter:

          27 Mar 2015 11:47:14am

          Nicotine is probably the most addictive drug. It is antisocial, but not illegal.

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      • Dove:

        26 Mar 2015 9:22:48am

        I am saddened also by the results of much that is legal, much that isn't and much that shouldn't be. Empathy with victims doesn't equate to advocating criminality. What you'll never read is me blaming

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    • Clicky The Robot:

      26 Mar 2015 9:54:43am

      why would anyone think it was the mother's fault?

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  • BB:

    25 Mar 2015 6:14:06pm

    Any drug dealer selling this awful stuff should get 10 years minimum.
    We are too soft on the wrong people these days!

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    • IMBY:

      25 Mar 2015 8:14:45pm

      This is one area Indonesia has right. The number of deaths drug dealers cause is massive. The problem is people do not see the direct connections such as hand holding a bloody knife over a corpse. Its just as certain though and the motive is simply money.

      If someone else was willing to kill for money we would call them an assassin. The only difference is the drug dealing assassins dont know or care who their victim is.

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      • Blzbob:

        26 Mar 2015 9:35:38am

        And yet we have two sitting on death row for attempting to import such a small amount of heroin that the chances of it killing anyone is about the same as your chances of killing someone while driving your car.

        We need to concentrate on taking out the big boys who sell but don't even use and are in it for the big money, not the small fry, who's actions are near significant. the time they have spent in their Indonesian prison should be quite adequate to ensure that they wont do the same stupid thing again, so give them their pardon and lets all move on to deal with the real even in our society.

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        • IMBY:

          26 Mar 2015 4:25:58pm

          You equate driving a car the same to taking drugs from a person on the street? I dont know how you drive although if on drugs I do accept the risk is elevated. The number of people driving is far greater to those on drugs and a lot of the deaths by cars are caused by people on drugs in cars.

          What do you classify as a small amount of drugs? There was an intent to sell them in Australia and that must mean the size is big enough to justify the trip overseas and back, big enough to justify the risk and big enough to convince heartless people to do it.
          The street value is about $4 Million. Do you consider $4 Million a small amount? If so, can you please send $4 Million my way.
          Lets say the average cost per taker of drugs is $400 (quite high).
          That would mean 10,000 people get illegal drugs.

          Which of these figures do you consider small?
          Out of these 10,000 if just 1% die of kill, you are looking at a death toll of 100 people. Yet watch Australia act over the death of two which would willingly kill far more.

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        • Blzbob:

          26 Mar 2015 9:46:46pm

          Wow nice rage

          Out of 10,000 one time heroine users or 100 users using 100 times each, how may deaths do you think occur?
          Certainly not 1%, or even one hundredth of one percent.

          So a group of people are involved in a crime with a value of $4,000,000, amounting to less than $1.000.000 each. you seem to think the monetary value of the crime is relevant. Would you be recommending the death penalty for any crime that nets any perpetrator half a mill in returns.

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    • Razget:

      25 Mar 2015 9:44:04pm

      I think you'll find that there is already plenty of mandatory sentencing available to deal with drug dealers in Australia.

      You have to appreciate the irony that on one hand Australia wants to save two drug smugglers in Bali and on the other hand you are advocating mandatory sentencing because drug dealers are evil.

      You also have to appreciate the irony that mandatory sentencing tends to be so inconsistent with the rest of the criminal code that you can get less jail time for rape or bashing your wife wtihin an inch of her life than you would for dealing some drugs.

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      • JoeBloggs:

        26 Mar 2015 10:22:07am

        "because drug dealers are evil."

        not really, they are just entreprenuers.

        in essence no different to perveyors of other drugs like alcohol or nicotine.

        both have little empathy for the users.

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        • Ann:

          26 Mar 2015 2:24:39pm

          Purveyors of cigarettes are indeed evil, and I would add sellers of alcohol to that category as well, personally. Especially those that sell in communities where they know alcohol abuse is a problem.

          It's not illegal and I don't think it should be made illegal. But it's still evil.

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    • whogoesthere:

      25 Mar 2015 10:22:09pm

      And when someone who is a user sells to fund their habit, are they a victim or a criminal ?.

      People having been taking mind altering substances forever. Some can control it, some can't. Why this is is the big, maybe unanswerable question.

      Prohibition just does not work, it's a health issue, not a criminal one.

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    • ScottBE:

      26 Mar 2015 12:14:36am

      How much harder does it get before we recognise that its not making any difference?

      If alcohol prohibition taught us one thing it was to control alcohol you must legalise it and regulate.

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      • MJK:

        26 Mar 2015 8:49:26am

        Spot on. If we legalize and tax drugs, then we can provide more help to people with this health problem and stop treating them like criminals.

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      • Kimberley Girl:

        26 Mar 2015 9:50:59am

        Wrong. An in depth study of prohibition showed that it actually worked. Consumption dropped. Health improved, alcohol related violence decreased. The negatives were the cost of enforcing it and the number of people charged as criminals for drinking it. It was only ceased because the U.S. Went into the Great Depression and the taxes on alcohol were needed to help run the government. But it did work. Do some research.

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        • Edward:

          26 Mar 2015 10:18:00am

          That's interesting because from what I've read about Capone and his ilk corruption was rife and "enforcement" was all about who paid off whom. It seems that if prohibition worked it was simply the small fry that suffered the penalties and the alleged benefits. The big guys could openly engage in having their exotic alcoholic needs met.

          another point of interest is how one defines alcohol fuelled violence. If one considered it to be "public" violence then perhaps the conclusions drawn might be right. On the other hand if it were "domestic" in nature, it could be a different story as, to use the disgusting vernacular, "correcting one's wife" wasn't generally a police matter.

          It comes down to the biases and intentions of the researchers concerned.

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        • Ann:

          26 Mar 2015 2:28:25pm

          Edward the entire reason Prohibition took off was because of campaigns, mainly by women, detailing the dreadful domestic toll of alcohol abuse. There were plays, books, pamphlets and whathaveyou of sob stories about little girls orphaned because their drunken father killed his wife then died himself, or sob stories about girls running away from an alcoholic home and into crime themselves. It was very emotive.

          Domestic abuse was not a "eh, it's not a problem" issue. It simply wasn't as criminalised as it now is.

          Sort of like how prohibition criminalised alcohol?

          In both cases if you want the behaviour to stop you need to create an environment where people don't want to do it, not just make it illegal.

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        • Alexander:

          26 Mar 2015 1:12:21pm

          No KG,
          The primary cost of Prohibition was the normalisation of criminality and creation of organised crime gangs.
          The benefits did not in any way outweigh those things. If it worked, the War on Drugs would have been a successful social policy rather than a form of weaponised keynesianism.
          Prohibition is a symptomatic treatment of a problem, which is WHY do people take drugs. What is wrong with their life or society that they want to escape. Without tackling those fundamental issues it will not cure anything, just punish the victims.

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        • Clicky The Robot:

          26 Mar 2015 1:34:37pm

          and not everyone uses drugs to "escape", obviously.

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        • Ben Nallay:

          26 Mar 2015 2:39:25pm

          Happiness is what is addictive. That is why there is disprin because headaches are reliable causes of Happiness Disorder. If there is no headache, disprin is just for recreational purposes, but it's not always a lifestyle choice, anymore than starvation. When we are hungry we need food, and when we are unhappy we need happiness. When we're happy, we don't need anything.

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        • Blzbob:

          26 Mar 2015 9:49:39pm

          I totally agree Ben, no one gets addicted to the withdrawals.

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      • Alex Read:

        26 Mar 2015 10:25:38am

        The main lesson with alcohol prohibition is that deeply ingrained cultural views cannot be easily swept aside by legislation. Alcohol could never be easily banned in a Western country. On the other hand, to my understanding, prohibition on alcohol in Muslim countries is reasonably effective.

        Prohibition on drugs isn't perfect but that doesn't mean that it should be put aside. There is also a world of difference between marijuana and ice or heroin.

        Yes, people can and still do access hard drugs with prohibition in place. But the odds of just stumbling into a meth addiction, however, are pretty slim. I've got an addictive personality and have used drugs in the past, but it's a nice barrier to have that to get to drugs I would need to call a mate who would call a mate, then organise with some loser dealer who can't get his business together and is super weird to deal with, then pay an exorbitant price for goods of questionable quality. That's a much longer process with multiple steps at which I can say "no, this is stupid, just get drunk like a regular Aussie". If I could access certain drugs with the same ease as alcohol or cigarettes, then I would probably have a drug problem.

        It's like when people say (re gun control) that if someone wants to kill themselves, they will do it whether they have a gun or not, it will just take longer. But having those extra barriers to effecting it (as opposed to simply pulling a trigger in a moment of despair) just gives further opportunities to stop the process.

        That's my two cents on why drug prohibition should be maintained, even if there is room for nuance and regulation of marijuana.

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        • Ann:

          26 Mar 2015 2:30:04pm

          I also have an addictive personality (which seems to run in my family) but thankfully was brought up in an environment that rejected all recreational drugs including alcohol and tobacco.

          It has almost certainly saved my life.

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    • Jonte:

      26 Mar 2015 5:48:52am

      Maybe - but would this sentence really have stopped her son from taking ice? I think even if you had the death penalty for drug dealers, there would still be drug dealers - just the price of ice would go up. But there's still going to be users who will rob and steal to get enough money to buy ice.

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      • BB:

        26 Mar 2015 8:23:32am

        If we get REAL serious about this drug and hit dealers extremely hard it has to make a difference. A small regional town recently had some drug busts and some dealers got community hours!
        I rest my case.

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        • Blzbob:

          26 Mar 2015 9:53:36am

          Were they the "Mr Biggs"?

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        • bobtonnor:

          26 Mar 2015 9:56:39am

          'If we get REAL serious about this drug and hit dealers extremely hard it has to make a difference', never worked before, , my case is rests on precendent not the vague hope that 'it has to work', i rest my case. We apply for costs, half a cup of cold coffee and a slice of vegimite toast.

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        • JoeBloggs:

          26 Mar 2015 10:24:14am


          It would make no difference.

          Criminals don't care about the criminal consequences, ....which is why they are criminals.

          Take away their ability to profit from the trade in narcotics by legalising and regulating it..... that is how you really hurt a criminal.

          And incidentially that is also how you go about reducing the incidence of use of narcotics.

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  • Little Bear:

    25 Mar 2015 6:17:15pm

    So many parents in rural Australia would be feeling this woman's pain. This is such a destructive drug that doesn't target a certain age group or class. Everyone I speak to seems to know someone who has fallen to this nasty addictive drug. It's a real concern.

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    • Ann:

      25 Mar 2015 7:04:08pm

      The drugs that are taken up by the lower socio-economic classes tend to be the nastiest, vilest ones. If only people could start to see an improvement in social conditions as one of the best defenses against drug use, instead of simply blaming those that fall victim.

      Most Australians self-medicate themselves with drugs; alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, weed. Amazing that they can still spit on the body of someone who just dabbled with a stronger one and destroyed their own life.

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      • victimnolonger:

        26 Mar 2015 11:52:25am

        "Most Australians self-medicate"

        Care to substantiate this claim through empirical evidence Ann. Otherwise it is just another fallacious generalisation crime that has been committed on this forum. And please don't add coffee to the mix, otherwise one could argue that eating and drinking per se are self-medicating, after all medicating is about surviving isn't it, so then everyone self medicates bar detainees on hunger strikes.

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        • JoeBloggs:

          26 Mar 2015 1:11:02pm

          33.5% of all Australians aged 22 or older (about 5.8 million) have tried cannabis, 4.3% of the population used it in the past year, around 3.24% Australians use cannabis every week, and approximately 1.3% smoke it on a daily basis.

          According to the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 80.5% of Australians aged 14 years and older drank a full serve of alcohol within the previous 12 months. Around 7.2% of Australians drink alcohol daily.

          I think that probably covers "most australians" and their "self medication".

          ps. add stats on chocolate, caffine, nicotine and other recreational substances too if you like.

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  • Scotty A:

    25 Mar 2015 6:41:55pm

    I start this by saying I am a LOT more worried about methamphetamine than I am about terrorism. That is both at a societal and personal level having two very young daughters.

    I strongly believe it is the ridiculously harsh drug enforcement and containment policy in this country that has, perversely, caused this situation. The benefits of controlling importation to an isolated island is that we have stamped out just about everything that can not readily be manufactured here. Up pops meth. And its eating our country towns. It can be synthesized easily from readily available chemicals. That in itself has meant a demand has been created so that now commercial and criminal importation is focused on a demand that was created because for those kids that wanted a 'high' ... meth was the only choice. An entire generation are growing up with meth being the only drug readily available. Its a nightmare of our own creation. The real question is what are we going to do about it.

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    • sdrawkcaB:

      26 Mar 2015 10:10:16am

      Could not agree more.

      I have two ice heads living up three doors up.
      The police visit them at least once a week.

      The queuing spot for their dealing is on the verge next door. It is also the dumping spot for stolen items such as bikes, mowers, and yesterdays fishing rod and tackle.

      I have switched my karate training from empty hand to weaponry as a precaution. I am pretty good with a tomahawk and long knife these days.

      The greatest threat to me is Australians, the people up the street and every car driver.

      It will all be set right next month though as we will have wall to wall mate, mate, bloke, bloke, oi, oi Anzac coverage.

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  • the yank:

    25 Mar 2015 6:59:16pm

    The ABC has put its finger on THE most serious problem facing Australia and it isn't ISIL or home grown terrorism it is drugs with ice seemingly at the top of the heap.

    Why don't wee see the PM surrounded by flags saying how he is going to spend billions stopping these "boats"?

    I feel desperately sorry for the mother of this young person who was a victim of this drug but I am terribly angry at the lack of response from the federal government to this problem.

    The war on drugs has been going on for decades and it has been lost. We need to do one of two things. Either get terribly tough on drug dealers so that none of them dare try to sell the stuff or legalise and control its use.

    The key to a dialogue regarding what to do on this issue should come from our leaders.

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  • anote:

    25 Mar 2015 7:16:41pm

    Whether it be the parent or the addict there but for fate go I and many others. While there are multiple possible reasons a significant one of them is the kind of society we live in, which is a cause of significant ills in many individuals.

    "I would have never thought my ..." a repeated refrain in this kind of story, maybe almost universal. However, it could happen to anyone and so long as people in general do not take on board that few are immune they neither understand adequately nor care adequately and are in some denial.

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  • APM:

    25 Mar 2015 7:21:11pm

    Identifying as Aboriginal is part of the problem. It seems to be a pathway to destruction. Identifying primarily as part of the mainstream and adopting its standards without cultural excuses would see less of this road to ruin.

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    • Big M:

      26 Mar 2015 9:41:03am

      I recently had a conversation with an Aboriginal Aunty, who is trying to get her extended family OUT of their small country town, for a number of reasons. First is the obvious benefits of education, health care and employment in larger centres. Second is that Aboriginal communities are being targeted by ice manufacturers, who are more than happy for an entire generation to be addicted to their product.

      I did ask about her connection to 'country'. She reckoned there was no point being 'on country' if you're severely addicted or dead.

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  • Pavo:

    25 Mar 2015 7:27:20pm

    Of all the substances out there, this is arguably the worst of the worst. Even heroin addicts can function, as witnessed by the successful Swiss policy. But ice is so often a one-way ticket to social oblivion, with anyone close swept up in its evil.

    One reason it's become popular is an unintended consequence of workplace drug testing. Whereas the markers for marijuana use can remain in the system for weeks (even though the effects are long gone), a couple of days is all that it takes for the person to be officially 'clean' after taking ice.

    So for FIFO workers and the like, ice has become the drug of choice for a solid weekend binge. Sadly, its effects are many times more destructive than a few spliffs - ask any ambo or police officer and they'll tell you which drug user they'd rather encounter. We've seen some horrible interactions between ice addicts on a bender and innocent members of the public.

    My sympathy goes out to this mother, a decent person who is clearly at her wit's end.

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  • An ex-addict:

    25 Mar 2015 7:29:52pm

    I am an ex addict who had a very very heavy speed addiction from 1993 to1996 and then a relapse from 1999 to 2004. I almost killed myself by the damage I did to my body ... and to this day I carry the burden of that damage. Though my drug of choice was amphetamines - not meth-amphetamines (though I had experienced them) - it was an incredibly challenging period for my Mother and myself. You see no matter how low I fell (and I fell quite low) my Mother stood by me. Though admittedly she wasn't exposed to the 'aggressiveness' that can be a part of Meth addiction ... she saw her son similarly (at the same age by the way) deteriorate physically, morally. It was a horrible thing to be exposed to. Like you she saved me financially when I couldn't pay bills ... or buy food ....none of these things are things to be proud of in anyway on my part. However I can tell you, that in my situation, her standing by me (through a horrible hell I allowed her to witness) the only reason I am alive today. Clean now for 11 years. I suppose the question is how did I stop? My situation is unusual I simply stopped using one day. I chose to give up and I did not seek support ... I was just extremely wanting to create a better future for myself AND significantly I wanted to BE the man that my Mother believed I had the potential to be. My Mother's contribution to my recovery was MOST significant ... as she stood fast by my side, when I am sure at times she would have wanted to do anything other than that. What did she gain from so much self sacrifice? ... her son back and I'm now caring for her as she is deteriorating due to old age.
    I am not advocating that you support your son if it becomes simply too much ... too horrible ... too threatening ... too terrifying .... all that I am saying to you is somewhere in 'there' ... in that alien body that was once your beloved son ... somewhere in there he still exists and there will ALWAYS remain the possibility of his return. However take note .. there may come a point in time when you may no longer be able to 'be there' for him ... had my Mother made that choice I would, retrospectively, have understood. Things can get better ,,,, though sometimes they do not.

    My heart goes out to you.

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    • JoeBloggs:

      26 Mar 2015 10:29:19am

      Well said An Ex-Addict.

      Support is crutial in helping break an addiction, and as you pointed out only the addict can make that mental choice to being the process of breaking an addiction.

      Your experience will provide hope to many I'm sure.

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    • a fool king:

      27 Mar 2015 8:49:55am

      Thanks ex: quite a moving post, speed and ice seem to be generally accepted in the workforce, because people are so busy on them the work gets done. Until the individual begins to unravel and standards drop from impressive to rubbish, the physical consequences are awful, I wish you well, your mum is lovely.

      Alert moderator

  • Nothing To See Here:

    25 Mar 2015 7:36:58pm

    Some of the blame has to do with drug testing in the workforce.
    In the mining industry the work situation has many persons on a two weeks on one week off ... or combinations of such. With Ice the body metabolizes the product fairly swiftly so on the week off you can do the first 2-3 days on Ice then go cold for the last 4 and you will pass the return to work test.
    Not so with the somewhat less harmful Cannabis ...1 or 2 joints on break can show positive on the return to work test..... which can mean the sack in some cases or at least a 2 week break until you test negative.[ there are masking products but they have limits ]
    I am not advocating drug use/abuse in any form. I am just saying it has been my observation that this has crept in to communities through some of the FIFO employees going hard on their [ cashed up ]breaks with their mates in towns and cities.

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  • wazza:

    25 Mar 2015 7:42:33pm

    Too common a story, this drug is destroying our community and is not getting the recognition that it requires. It is everywhere and I don't think people get it.

    We need all our local members and community leaders to have a broad open discussion with people of all walks of life on how we can start to tackle the problem of meth in regards law and order and how we can help those who want change their lives and get off it.

    Do we need to do something radical and get it government controlled? Because at the moment we have drug dealers getting rich and no idea on who is hiding their substance abuse. We could generate some taxes and stop these backyard labs and being able to talk to the users to assist them with rehab ect should they wish to clean up their lives may help some turn the corner.

    Frankly I don't know what should be done but it feels like at the moment we are doing very little other than talk tough with little results.

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  • Erik the Red:

    25 Mar 2015 7:50:12pm

    Good luck in your journey.

    Very few addicts manage to escape their addiction, even with the love and support of their families. Sad but true.

    However, mothers never stop being mothers, thank god. He is lucky to have you and I hope that you can make it together. Love can conquer all but you are going to need a lot of luck also.

    Keep supporting your son as long as you are able, but don't forget to put yourself first. You can't be there for him if you are not functioning yourself.

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  • Mum:

    25 Mar 2015 8:02:42pm

    This situation is appalling & robs the individual of normal life, respectability & all that is involved, it shatters the parents/ the mother will not draw breath without her psyche aching whilst this situation prevails.
    Our community/our nation is deprived of yet another young, vibrant healthy life & from reading accounts of often highly intelligent youth from good homes. But those from broken homes & less than perfect situations are also drawn into these vicious drugs & rather than having a hand to elevate them to reach higher, they are being pushed further down & often to death & ignominy.

    The problem is not just the weak & gutless drug dealers who are most likely taking drugs themselves & dealing as a means to keep their habit but mostly springs from the malevolent & greedy crime cartels & kingpins. Quite obviously the powers that be are not working together hard enough to bust these criminals & the outcome is that our youth, the flower of our lives are being wasted.

    I have nothing to say to support but that you must hang in there & continue to hope and pray deliverance from these horrors will occur, your son who is obviously hurting from relationship break-up will find his way with you & others leading him.

    Please do not bring the Bali 9 duo into this conversation Dove. It is unwise & uncaring, these men have reformed, they've been living in the shadow of death for 10 years through their criminal stupidity & have learned the error of their ways. Please do not destroy their chance of life, they are most likely in extreme psychological distress being moved to the death island. Please show some mercy.

    But for the grace of God go I

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  • R Supwood:

    25 Mar 2015 8:47:43pm

    Our great curse is human wilfulness, which can drive and empower, or wound and debilitate. Choices are made and prices paid. You never know the final bill for some of it.

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  • bassmanbob:

    25 Mar 2015 9:40:35pm

    ice is a scourge on society when people get hooked on it they only care about themselves and do not care about their families and close friends that love them. all drugs are bad but this is the worst and it is all over australia. there is a lot of people in their thirties and forties who are hooked and i have seen lots of parents disown their children but the problem still exists. they have to get the dealers and put them away for a very long time. i feel for your family.

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  • Tropix:

    25 Mar 2015 10:00:07pm

    To the original writer of this article, if you are reading this:

    I am sure that you will be receiving many messages of support.
    There is not much to say - you are, after all, a councillor.

    I can offer you some hope:
    I was a heroin and cocaine addict for over 15 years. These two drugs cost me everything that I valued in my life. The best years of my life went by.
    I came from a difficult childhood, like many people do, but I have met many who didn't.
    I was never deserted by my family - that is to say, at least not when it counted.

    This is all you can do. And all that you need to do.

    Despite the damage that I caused everyone who was close to me, despite the emotional hell that I put my mother through at the lowest points of my disease, (which was just about every waking day). Despite all this
    they WERE there the only time that I REALLY needed them - when I finally decided to get help myself and to basically give up.
    In this, I am very fortunate. My mum and my sister, who had removed themselves from my 'life' were there after all.

    So yes - to make the difference, you only need to be there at the right time. You WILL know when this is.
    Sadly, as I am sure you are aware, no amount of you trying to make him 'see sense', or showing your love or hurt will actually change anything, until he is ready to change himself. And this normally only occurs when there is nothing left - our lowest point.

    There is a reality here, that not everyone makes it. This is true, but your son does have you, he knows that inside. And that does make a difference.
    Just as inside you know that the reality is that you did nothing 'wrong', and your best WAS enough.

    I hope that this day comes for both of you. Miracles DO happen, I am living proof of this, as are many, many others.

    You have my unwritten support and best wishes.

    May I suggest that anyone that is reading this that has a family member that is an addict or suffers from the affects of substance / alcohol abuse tries to contact a support line / family group (such as Families Anonymous), if they are anywhere near your area. I realise though that they are mainly city-centric.
    The worst thing to do is to live with the 'shame' privately, with so many others in the same situation, it makes no sense to suffer or be alone.

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    • caramello koala:

      26 Mar 2015 8:59:07am

      Similarly, society cannot expect that law enforcement alone can solve this problem. There are very few drug rehabilitation facilities, with long waiting lists, particularly in non urban areas. I accept that until the addicted person can find their own reasons to discontinue using their drug of choice, rehabilitation clinics can seem a revolving door. However, at the very least they are safe, and provide a window of opportunity to break the cycle of the drug addicted lifestyle by returning to activities of daily living without drugs.
      My workplace involves interaction with "ice" users, and I fear them. They are excessively violent, unpredictable and cannot be reasoned with due to the psychosis they are experiencing. We call the police, who remove them. What choices do the police have available?

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      • Razget:

        26 Mar 2015 1:19:58pm

        Yeah its a good point.

        That's why in my view, at least initially, we'd all be better off if the government just switched those people from meth over to ecstasy in a monitored least then the people would be happy and more aware and be able to benefit from a new way of living.

        Then perhaps meth addicts would have a reliable way of getting clean.

        It might also have the added benefit that ecstasy's potential as a PTSD / depression illness fighting drug could be explored and trialled.

        Cold turkey is like the worst and most unnecessary way of going straight that's out're literally better off staying on a certain amount of drugs, then trying to go cold turkey and failing and then falling back into addiction.

        Our society is so dumb and so hypocritical. People advocate more and more harsh damage be done to supposedly stop them from doing damage to themselves and others.

        Giving someone the death penalty for drug smuggling or putting a user in jail for 10 years for possession is almost like an act of desperation on the part of the government, because government has no clue what to do...and no motivation to learn.

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  • Radish:

    25 Mar 2015 10:01:40pm

    I just think we in Australia could learn a lot from how drug users and dealers are dealt with in Singapore. While I sympathise with this lady in her awful plight I at the same time think why do decent law abiding people have to suffer the consequences of the scum who make and push this evil crap to the vulnerable. I am sure the rataan or confinement in a facility for users and capital punishment for makers and sellers would make a difference.

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    • Jonte:

      26 Mar 2015 8:40:20am

      I think you'll find that in pretty much every country, there is a drug problem (regardless of the severity of state-sanctioned punishment). Even if you were able to kill all the drug dealers in Australia, there would still be back yard operators springing up to fill in the void. Killing/imprisoning people does not reduce demand. Look at America.

      Alert moderator

  • Razget:

    25 Mar 2015 10:16:32pm

    Listening to the family members of victims of <insert vice here> is often too biased to really be of much use to policy formation.

    That is why traditionally judges are the ones that decide what penalties are given...not family members.

    It would have to be something like 1 out of every 5 members will cry that the punishment wasn't severe enough...because what they want is vengeance.

    I find it somewhat amusing when I listened to a documentary about crystal meth in Australia and an emergency room doctor was interviewed and said that the police were successful at suppressing heroin. So addicts turned to ice, which is harder to counter. So effective enforcement didn't eliminate addiction, it just pushed drug users to an alternate and much worse substance. A hollow victory that demonstrates why prohibition fails.

    I just cant have much sympathy for this story, the gut reaction of so many people is to help this woman and give her some tangible hope that her sons experience wasn't in vain...but its a fools errand. The reality is, his experience is in vain...there is information everywhere saying not to do it...but he does it anyway.

    There will always be drugs, there will always be some addicts and there will always be some poor soul somewhere that dies. That doesn't mean everything should be illegal, especially not drugs...which are more a personal responsibility than a social crime.

    The drug war has failed, people don't seem to have got the memo...a different philosophy is needed.

    If you keep your head while those around you are losing'll be a man my son. (Kipling paraphrased)

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  • DC:

    25 Mar 2015 10:16:48pm

    Drugs are not an answer, they simply provide somewhere to hide for a while when your coping strategies don't work. Help him fix the underlying problem so that he wants to stop using - the drugs are probably a symptom of something else that is troubling him.

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  • Avon:

    25 Mar 2015 10:38:54pm

    What I never see is shame by those convicted of peddling this poison to our children. We need to publicly shame drug peddlers to the same degree as we do to those who plot or commit other forms of terrorism against us. These parasites, if caught, are punished, but they seem to enjoy anonymity. Let's put them before the families who they destroy and force them to listen to harm they do.

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  • Red:

    25 Mar 2015 10:46:29pm

    Exposure to drugs can strike any family; it does not discriminate against class or race. This story is frightening and tragic and is growing more and more common. This is also a form of terrorism and the population needs to rally against it. Many drug dealers get rich quick and spoil their kids at the expense of ours. The government needs to show us who the perpetrators are.

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  • Andrew English:

    25 Mar 2015 10:47:38pm

    Watching the demise of any drug-addicted person is a tragedy and all parents, regarding of what the age of the child or the type of drug, will ask themselves "where did I go wrong". The truth of it is however, that unless the parent personally provided the drugs, introduced the child to drugs or persuaded them to take the drugs, there is no reason to blame themselves. The addict is the person who must take responsibility for their actions and, when the time is right for them, seek assistance to overcome their problem. Sometimes, the best (albeit hardest) thing for a parent to do is to ensure that they do not enable their addicted child with any form of financial support which will only prolong the addiction. The addict knows no loyalty to the parent and does not deserve too much in return. Many may disagree with this approach, but the parent has a right to a quality of life also and spending their years worrying over a non-functioning and non-deserving child is not a quality of life.

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  • Yakadeeyak:

    25 Mar 2015 10:48:00pm

    I have always been angered by this whole drug culture that has affected the lives of so many while others use people's addiction as their little get rich scheme. By this i mean the current rhetoric being spoken in relation to national security when the odd nut job under an Islamic brain wash moment causes the focus to shift away from what is the real threat to the way we live.

    The infiltration of this drug culture into our society has done more damage to lives & culture than we can even begin to imagine, we tend to forget the large amount of people who go missing each year, of these around 1,600 each year become long term missing persons, of which some do not want to be found, others may have easily fallen victim to violent drug crime, and this is not to mention the KNOWN drug relation deaths due to overdose, illness, and violent crimes.

    We hear so much of the ISIS death cult overseas, but we never hear as much about the local drug death cults, and that is all they are. Sometimes I wonder why so much money gets pumped into all sorts of counter terrorism issues while the Drug culture continues to flourish, surley something is wrong here. Do too many people get kickbacks from this trade? Is it like how the CIA needs an enemy to keep it's position re funding so the enemy must be controlled but allowed to stay? I really do not know, but i do know not enough is being done about drugs, a war on drugs would save more lives that the current war on terror, that much i do know.

    Australia's drug culture, along with our obsession with the booze culture needs to be spoken about, NOW!

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    • Timmi:

      26 Mar 2015 4:24:18pm

      Not to mention that a war on drugs would help cut out part of the terrorists funding. I hear a lot of this stuff comes from the backyard of where the war on terror is being played out.

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  • Oaktree:

    25 Mar 2015 10:48:10pm

    I am so sorry to hear about your son. It is like a bereavement in that you have lost the personality he once was and have continual stress over his well-being. Such a heartbreaking situation based on a line so easily crossed from recreation to addiction.

    The people who imposed this terrible curse on our children do not deserve to have any leniency shown. I hope that we can overcome this dreadful trade somehow. Hopefully strong education and advertising together with reporting will gain the upper hand.

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  • Fightthem:

    25 Mar 2015 10:56:43pm

    Believe me. The pushers of this evil are prepared to do the time in an Australian prison, if need be. By the time they are sentenced many have already set their own families up for life. Prison time on its own is not a deterrent. Even the death penalty, as some argue, is not a deterrent. We have to think smarter and work out how to hit them where it actually hurts.

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    • TGU:

      26 Mar 2015 9:03:37am

      The death penality is not a deterrent? I agree, but what it does is get that particular scumbag off the street so he or she doesn't get the opportunity to reoffend and that in itself is a good enough reason.

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    • JoeBloggs:

      26 Mar 2015 10:36:35am

      "We have to think smarter and work out how to hit them where it actually hurts"

      in their hip pockets.

      Decriminalisation and regulation prevents organised crime syndicates from profititng.

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      • Oaktree:

        26 Mar 2015 11:44:58am

        The effects of ice are too dangerous to legalise its purchase.

        Alert moderator

        • JoeBloggs:

          26 Mar 2015 1:45:03pm


          I would have said that the effects of ice are too dangerous to leave it criminalised and in the hands of organised crime syndicates.

          After all evidence clearly demonstrates that when a product is decriminalised the incidence of use (and associated harms) is reduced. Particularly in relation to 'hard drugs' like heroin etc.

          You could even regulate it like nicotine and have mandatory labeling that includes statements such as "will cause psychosis", "will rot your teeth out", "do not use heavy machinery while under the influence" and appropriate graphic pictures on the packaging.

          You could even include a number to your local lifeline and health clinic hotline.

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        • Clicky The Robot:

          26 Mar 2015 1:53:25pm

          the effects are the same legal or illegal. Arguably worse when illegal as purity varies.

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  • CF Zero:

    25 Mar 2015 11:54:49pm

    Im sad for you. It has been 4 months now since I last saw my friend who became addicted to ice, she is 37 with a 4yr old daughter. When I last spoke with her, I visited to see how she was, she was having hallucinations about their being demons in the drive way and was both paranoid and delusional.
    While I am saddened by her state, I feel most for her family and daughter as I fear she will end up in a psych ward permanently if she doesn't end up killing herself one way or another.
    I made a choice to end the friendship but family cannot do this and I think them doing what hey can to care for her will consume all of them. Im sorry to hear you are dealing with something similar.

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    • JoeBloggs:

      26 Mar 2015 10:39:04am

      "I made a choice to end the friendship...."

      Understandable from your perspective.

      But not what she needed.

      She needs support, someone to bring a decent meal over now and then, someone to listen (despite the mental health issues she is suffering from), someone to make sure her daughter is ok and getting what she needs, and most of all someone to support and encourage her to end her addiction.

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      • PeterS:

        26 Mar 2015 1:38:05pm

        You bring her a meal. Do you know what people on this drug are capable of? They'll pluck out your eyeballs and eat them, murder you, cut off their own penis, carve out their own anus; they are capable of super human strength and endurance.

        Your cuddles approach is a laugh. As is the decriminalise it and treat it as health issue approach: what do you think the chemists will come with next? They've made their choice: they decided that the rules don't apply to them, that it's a "victimless" crime, that they can do whatever they want and if it goes wrong (if they even think that) someone will come along and pay for them to get better.

        I'm sick of the "I'm a victim" trope of the modern Australian narcisist: they've made their bed, they can lie in it. Make the punishment for possession, use and dealing a real punishment: take everything they own and put them in gaol for 20 years.

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        • JoeBloggs:

          26 Mar 2015 5:00:03pm


          you ask "you bring her a meal"

          Actually.... yes.

          I took a non judgemental approach and provided a friend with food/meals (not everyday mind you), cat food, and other basics.

          I took the time to listen, to simply be a friend to a person.

          I even helped them later on by allowing them to stay at my flat, meals etc included (ie. board for a nominal cost) when it was obvious there were in over their head.

          It all helped in the end.

          It wasn't easy, but I believed they were a decent person who would benefit from a little help, and I was right.

          I even gave her fiancee a place to stay when he got out of jail (from a drug conviction).

          They both lived happily every after, healthy and decent members of society.

          Sometimes you make choices in life that can have a hugely positive impact on others.

          ps. and no eye balls were removed, I suspect you have been watching far too much TV.

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      • agaras:

        26 Mar 2015 2:30:53pm

        Supporting your friends at the cost to your family, I wouldn't think so.
        Armchair judgments are so easy to pass, but to live that path can take away what you hold dear.

        We've all be touched by people with substance abuse, i did have a friend who was abusing, he came to my house on the weekends to end his drug crazy cycles, it was great, over the 5 years I saw him change and become a better person.

        Unfortunately it was at the expense of my family, which I lost because of the decision to help him. Regrets? I am not sure i do now, but at the time it was soul destroying. My ex-friend and my ex wife are now very happy together with their own family.

        Be careful what you hope for is what i have learnt.

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        • JoeBloggs:

          26 Mar 2015 5:03:15pm


          I'm sorry to hear of your experience and the cost to you personally.

          While I previously helped a friend or two beat their addictions when I was single, and I doubt I'd have the energy etc to do it with a family.

          You are better person than me for doing what you did.

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    • OUB :

      26 Mar 2015 6:34:29pm

      Can the daughter be removed from that situation? She is in danger, if not physical then at risk of having her mental health and prospects badly damaged.

      Alert moderator

  • ScottBE:

    26 Mar 2015 12:12:44am

    Throughout history and across all cultures there has been a social need and personal need to get wasted. In many cultures intoxication was held as special communication with the spirits or gods or included in fertility rites. Bacchus (or his creator) had the bright idea of worshipping the act of getting drunk and so we found a common delight in intoxication.

    In Europe it was alcohol, in Africa it was kif (cannabis), the middle east had poppies and wine and the Americas had tobacco. Fungi were also popular around the globe.

    This drives much human behaviour and its common that it becomes a problem.

    With alcohol it can be controlled somewhat but illicit drugs cannot because they are illegal. The police keep reporting bigger and bigger busts yet the market is awash with more drugs than every before at bottom price.

    We need a rethink. regulation.

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  • Brad s:

    26 Mar 2015 4:55:16am

    I work in the community sector and see the carnage this drug causes. This story is all to familer to me. While I believe we should treat addicts as a health issue, the people who peddle this drug deserve a long stint inside.

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  • awake:

    26 Mar 2015 6:52:40am

    Addiction is just that and it doesn't matter what they are addicted to, the results are pretty much the same, except for ICE.

    As hard as this sounds - get on with your life. He will have to fight this addiction, you cannot do it for him. The more you try the harder it will be for you - at times like this you must face reality, it is sink or swim time for your son. I know whereof I speak.

    Best of luck and all prayers to you and to him.

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    • JoeBloggs:

      26 Mar 2015 10:41:49am

      Actually it is generally the support of a parent and the unconditional love only a parent (or family member) can provide that is the catalyst that enables an addiction to be broken.

      They are suffering from a mental health issues as a result of a chemical imbalance (and chemical addiction). These are pure health issues that have to be addressed.

      Love and support is the answer,... not kicking them to the gutter.

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      • MD:

        26 Mar 2015 1:22:04pm

        Well intentioned drivel.

        First there is no chemical imbalance (in this or any other "mental health issue") - this was a catchy notion invented by a pharmaceutical manufacturer for their marketing campaign - there is not one iota of evidence to support this fiction.

        Second ask any ex-addict what turned them around. They will tell you that it was when they had sunk as low as they could go and there was nowhere left to go but up, or to die. Doesn't matter what drug including alcohol, same for ice. The love and support are needed at that time but is wasted the rest of the time. There is plenty of help for those wanting it, trouble is most don't want it. They want the drug instead.

        About 10% of people who use any drug are likely to become addicted to it, for reasons that are still unclear but include genetic liability, sociocultural factors and probably (but not yet for certain) other biological predisposing factors.

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    • ScottBE:

      26 Mar 2015 11:21:44am

      Addiction is a mental health problem awake. and Ice is no different than heroin or alcohol but these three are the most addictive drugs of all.

      It really isn't up to families to help an addicted person as they can become victims of the addict, yet rejecting them is only an option when the parent/sibling can no longer tolerate the abuse they are subject to.

      Many who become addicted will deal with the problem for the rest of their lives and families need to share their love. forgiveness is a most powerful tool in helping and can heal families. Strong and loving family ties are the best anchor for any addict. rejection only makes it all much harder and likely to end in worse outcomes.

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      • MD:

        26 Mar 2015 7:01:18pm

        Actually nicotine and caffeine are the most addictive drugs, but methamphetamine will give them a run for their money if it ever becomes freely available. All three are psychostimulants, and ice IS different. It is the crystalline form of MA which is more potent and acts faster - which makes it more addictive. The same properties that make pethidine more addictive than morphine.

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  • Realist:

    26 Mar 2015 7:14:44am

    Should he go to gaol or get medical treatment? Both should help stop the drug use but only one has a clear chance of only doing good.

    Should our children be educated about the dangers of drug use when they are younger, or should we just wait to educate them in gaol? Both could work, but one clearly has a more positive impact and has less negative financial impact on everybody.

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    • cfz:

      26 Mar 2015 9:31:06am

      He should go to gaol for a lengthy period but be given an option to avoid it by passing on the details of those up the chain, same for the next person up the line.
      Addicts will hand over the details of dealers to avoid gaol time and this can be used against the supply chains.
      Where it would lead to though - I dont know.

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      • Clicky The Robot:

        26 Mar 2015 1:50:39pm

        "Where it would lead to though - I dont know."

        In the US it leads to aggressive, unethical prosecutors (they get re-elected/ promoted based on the number of convictions) and a lot of stories being made up about people.

        And why should addicts go to gaol?

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      • MD:

        26 Mar 2015 3:23:32pm

        Locking people up in prison or anywhere else is useless as a way of trying to stop someone using drugs. There is a large literature on this - it just prolongs the interval until they use again. I am not so sure that they will "hand over" anyone other than small time dealers and users, like themselves, who are not the main issue.

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        • Clicky The Robot:

          26 Mar 2015 5:22:25pm

          I agree. In fact there are plenty of drugs in prison. And the dealers there *are* predatory and *will* work to get you hooked. Not to sell you more drugs per se, but to ensure you owe them money at which point you are effectively a slave.

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  • Ravensclaw:

    26 Mar 2015 7:36:55am

    A death penalty for drug dealers in Australia would be good thing. This would align us with most other countries in SE Asia. People who deal drugs, not only don't care about people, they fall into the category of predatory and evil. This is alongside pedophiles, serial rapists, serial murders, marxists etc.

    You would have to worry about recidivism anymore. If the drug dealer is dead, then they cannot re-offend. Drug dealers are common reoffenders.

    Being soft on crime has failed. Such people are the criminal's "useful and gullible idiots".

    Shooting galleries have failed. People want the drugs where the party is at. Drug users like to mix their drugs. Drug users like the drugs that have such harmful side effects, the state should never consider taking over distribution.

    The best way for the community to deal with this problem is to stand up to it. If you see a drug deal, report it. And if you can do it safely, record it, then report it.

    You can't stop people murdering each other from time to time. Obviously you don't make murder legal simply because some people will kill irrespective of a legal penalty. The same goes for drugs. A tough approach can work, and in the past has.

    The community is most at risk, when illicit drugs are easily accessible. We will never be rid of the illicit drug trade. But we can push it as far underground as possible.

    A zero tolerance by the community and a death sentence for dealers would push the trade far underground. Profits would be slim and the risks would be high.


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    • Tiliqua:

      26 Mar 2015 11:18:26am

      Clearly the ABC has moved to the right when you can advocate the murder of all marxists on its pages. Nonetheless, the remainder of the rest of your article is equally disturbing. The more drugs are crimanalised the higher the profits are that the drug dealers make. A better option is to legalise them all as portugal has done and regulate and control the supply and tax it. All the profits then go to the government wiping out all the drug dealers and criminal gangs as they no longer have a source of income. In addition all the money that the govenment then collects from the drugs can be spent on rehabilitation programmes, which is a far more effective method at getting people to stop using drugs than criminalisation.

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    • Realist:

      26 Mar 2015 11:25:21am

      If they bring it in I hope it's one of your loved ones that you have to watch the state murder. Because murder is so much better than drug use. Murder has helped stop the drug deaths in Indonesia and other countries with the death penalty.

      Don't let facts get in the way of your prejudices though such as "Shooting galleries have failed." Maybe if you think saving peoples lives is a failure then you are right. I think that is what you are saying judging by the rest of your comment.

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  • MrBrendanio:

    26 Mar 2015 8:44:22am

    Ravensclaw, I appreciate your frustration. Problem is a sizable proportion of our community likes drugs. Not necessarily ice. Big difference between enjoying a beer after work to injecting ice on the weekend.
    Another point is that a sizable proportion of our population are just not very smart. Unintelligent people seeking instant gratification through drugs.
    I work in front line health, see the consequences of ice regularly, person being either the addict or a victim of violent or misguided actions of a ice druggie.
    A lot of these addicts only have a negative value to their communities and will only bring misery to themselves and others.

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  • Regionalgranny:

    26 Mar 2015 9:22:14am

    What may start out as a curiosity or an activity introduced by peers can very quickly descend into addiction.
    The effect this has on families is devastating even for those dysfunctional families who have personal experience of drugs themselves, perhaps because they have personal experience of the downside.
    Anyone who thinks this affects no one but themselves is quite wrong.
    I have had people tell me that I am talking about something of which I have no experience, that I am trying to impose an outdated set of morals on a new generation and that it is a personal choice to use illegal drugs. I am a parent and I can affirm that trying to raise a child when they are in possession of all their normal facilties is difficult enough without them being someone who is not in control of their lives because of the influence of drugs including alcohol.
    I sympathise with this mother whose child is someone she possibly no longer recognises. Nothing, however, will make him not be her child. I feel your pain.

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  • Clicky The Robot:

    26 Mar 2015 9:22:48am

    I will not consider drug users "victims" until all alcoholics are considered victims of that industry. And once we have that sorted we can move on to assigning victim status to overweight people, gambling addicts, workaholics and anyone else who takes a behaviour to the point it causes damage to their life or others'.

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    • Dove:

      26 Mar 2015 10:49:28am

      You just answered your own question from above. Nice work

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      • Clicky The Robot:

        26 Mar 2015 11:31:31am

        I guess I'm a bit slow today Dove but I don't see the connection.

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        • Dove:

          26 Mar 2015 2:19:05pm

          In retrospect, neither do I! Can I blame a staffer?

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  • Manfred Particleboard:

    26 Mar 2015 9:50:23am

    Addiction is the disease, not the thing they are addicted to. It would be nice to get rid of the things that people get hooked on; but then no one else would have the things they enjoy in moderation and those with control issues go on to find some other dangerous practise to indulge in.

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  • Another suffering father:

    26 Mar 2015 10:23:01am

    My 26 year old son has gone on a downward slide from a fully employed, productive and happy young man , to a violent, addicted individual with little or no concern for himself and family. He has lost all his friends and is now a prisoner. His biggest test will come when he is released from prison and tries to source accommodation, a job and social services. Will he be strong enough to face these challenges ? Only time and how own actions will tell. We have him registered to go into a rehab program but space is limited and rehabilitation resources are stretched. Unfortunately under the current privacy laws, even as parents, we are not able to assist him with the rehabilitation process. About time we legalised and removed the criminal element from marijuana (tax it !!) and put all available resources into dealing with this scourge. We have a lost generation of young Australians who deserve better management of this debacle by government. It is not the government's responsibility, but management of it is in the public interest as the cost to society is immeasurable. A lot of people are trying very hard here and deserve our support, but political correctness in a solution is not working. We now tell all parents we know of the symptoms of Ice usage as it can go from some minor personality and lifestyle changes to a disaster very quickly. To the people who manufacture and sell this stuff, the law may show you leniency, the lawyers who you pay huge sums of illegally acquired funds to get you off and also deserve the same contempt, but I have nothing but scorn. I never will have any sympathy for these types. For the "term of your natural lives "is not good enough for them.

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    • Ben Nallay:

      26 Mar 2015 12:04:05pm

      "About time we legalised and removed the criminal element from marijuana (tax it !!)"

      I'm glad to read someone else can see the light. I couldn't get a word in yet.

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    • Peter of Melbourne:

      26 Mar 2015 1:22:18pm

      heres a better idea

      experiment a little in your teens with the crap and then grow up

      there is no need to legalise it at all

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    • Andrew:

      26 Mar 2015 3:21:54pm

      Not sure you can say we have lost a generation. Which generation was lost? There are always a few who will make poor decisions but an entire generation certainly hasn't done that.

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  • WiseOne:

    26 Mar 2015 10:23:40am

    You chose not to print my previous email in which I said the government should classify the cookers, the dealers, the importers, the suppliers as terrorists and jail them as terrorists because they are terrorists through and through. I wonder if you will print this one.

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  • Pete:

    26 Mar 2015 10:49:24am

    My Brother died 5 years ago at 40 years of age, he was heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol for the last 20 years of his life,

    He died in a car accident heavily intoxicated with a cocktail of drugs and alcohol, the final one of many car accidents over the years, luckily it was a stationary truck he hit, and not an oncoming car with an innocent family in it.

    at my brothers funeral i felt relief, that I and more importantly my parents didnt have to deal with his addictions any more, his violent behaviour and they didnt have to constantly give him money whenever he asked for it.

    I tried hard to help my brother for many years, as did my other siblings, all sorts of attempts at intervention, helping him get employment, etc, etc and I eventually came to the conclusion that nothing would change unless he made the decision to help himself.

    I sympathise with the Author, as I can see where her son will end up if he doesnt take the responsibility to make the change.

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    • JoeBloggs:

      26 Mar 2015 12:02:43pm

      "...nothing would change unless he made the decision to help himself."

      Unfortunately true.

      Support can help, but it is no guarantee of success as you point out.

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      • Pete:

        26 Mar 2015 1:33:44pm


        I think the first step is for the addict themselves to recognise that they have a problem, or recognise the seriousness of their problem.

        We could never get my Brother to take this first step, no matter how hard we tried.

        and Ice is a whole different level of scourge thats becoming easily available than the drugs that were available and of choice to my Brother.

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  • Pete:

    26 Mar 2015 2:39:30pm

    One point that struck me the most in the aftermath of my Brothers death, was in finalising the estate, we discovered how easy it is for an addict to access their superannuation to feed their habit!

    The estate had creditors, Damage bill for the other vehicle in the accident, car loan, maxed out overdue credit card, there was a funeral to pay for and a lot of outstanding court fines, and even a couple of dealers had the nerve to knock on my parents door asking for money.

    A visit to the local court house and a coffee with the magistrate and the local Sarge, sorted out all the court fines, they wiped the slate clean, and the Sarge told my parents not to worry about the dealers, he will deal with them, to which we were very grateful and my parents never heard from them again.

    My brother had been gainfully employed on occasions throughout his life, so there was a number of old super funds that we followed up with the various Super/ insurance companies.

    and to our dismay he had cashed out the lot.

    I don't know if things have changed, but for my brother it was an easy 2 steps to cash out his Super to buy drugs.

    1) prove that he had been on unemployment benefits for over 6 months (easy tick)

    2) claim that he was destitute ( No fixed address, living rough in his car another easy tick)

    I would warn any-one that has a family member that is an addict to watch out for this! In my brothers case it was about $50K Which would have been useful to at least pay for and close out the destruction he left behind.

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  • Steven:

    26 Mar 2015 2:59:44pm

    I have used it around 8-10 times since 2001 and have never had the impulse to have it two weekends in a row. I find it hard to understand people that construct their entire lifestyle and identity around this drug and wonder what other factors might be going on in this individual's personality.

    I believe responsible recreational use of this drug can be beneficial and I simply do not understand these types ... call me ignorant or naive but a touch of discipline goes a long way!

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  • GrumpiSkeptic:

    26 Mar 2015 3:05:31pm

    We are very good at kicking the cans. The AFP and the Customs have had massive successes recently in busting drug importation. Yet we are facing a situation where the rate of addiction is going up, not down. So what is going on? And what is going wrong?

    Like all commodities, the law of supply and demand always applies. Sure, with the huge amount of efforts and money spent, we did manage to detect larger and larger amount of those evil substances coming onto our shore. However, the net amount that managed to slip through is probably ten time and more over what was busted by the law enforcement agencies.

    Why? Because the profit margin is so lucrative that the importers can afford some losses. I presume the losses are already factored into the price of the sh*t anyway. So by constricting the supply side of the equation wont be enough. What about the demand side?

    I reckon it is all too easy to call drug addiction as "mental illness". No, it isn't. You get ill "AFTER" you took the rubbish. You were normal before then. I believe addiction to such serious drugs ought to be a crime. Yes, I can hear the laughter and objections.

    In Sweden, the prostitution is not a crime. But that applies only to the supplier, ie. the sex workers themselves. The johns are treated as criminals and are dealt with according to the Swedish law. Yes, it is not a 100% success, but I believe it has some success.

    Perhaps a name and shame ? I bet the human rights advocates are now jumping up and down by now ?

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    • stephen jones:

      26 Mar 2015 5:49:51pm

      It is the Medical Profession which labels this scourge a 'mental illness'

      They do so, too, because Doctors - notably, mental health professionals - have been given the task by Government of describing an ailment which does not exist.
      The problem of youth addiction comes from poor education in all matters of learning at school, and as all authorities here are at a loss as to how to make changes and amends (this is proven too, that we insist on asking New York and Finnish Educators how to teach our children - and I should say here ... 'as if they bloody care !!' ) we push the burden of compensation from ourselves ; adults are to blame for addictive and repetitive behaviours of our children, and I think that the medical explanation of addiction in all forms is wrong, and that the remedy, sooner or later, will arise from a re-evaluation and new adaptations of a Multi-Culture.

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      • JoeBloggs:

        27 Mar 2015 9:36:21am

        Stephen Jones,

        The scientific community describes addiction as a 'Brain Disease' as addiction is chemical imbalance in the brains limbic system (the bodies reward system).

        This is why the medical community are tasked with dealing with the physical properties of addiction.

        Similarly the mental health professionals are also involved so that the underlying issues which can sometimes be a cause of the drug use itself can be addressed.

        I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that mulitculturalism is to blame for how the brains limbic system operates. I guess that just goes to show that no matter how much scientific information is available some folks just won't read it. Is that the failure of the education system you were refering to perhaps?

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      • MD:

        27 Mar 2015 11:03:21am

        It is true that there is a "disease model" of addiction and this is supported by some doctors, not by others. All would agree that there are biological factors involved in determining why some people become addicted to a particular drug, estimated to be about 10% of users for most drugs, and most people don't.

        We know genes are involved but are not the whole story, likewise social factors, and things in the particular individual matter too. It is complex. It is certainly not as simple as a "chemical imbalance" in the brain (and anyway there is no such thing as a "chemical balance" to become unbalanced).

        It is not a "mental illness". That is a different kind of thing. Some drugs can produce mental illness, like cannabis and especially amphetamines including ice. Addiction is listed in manuals of mental disorders but so are all kinds of other things that are not illnesses because there isn't anywhere else to classify them. Drug and alcohol problems were taken away from medicine and mental health services in the 1980s by politicians - they are separate services.

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        • JoeBloggs:

          27 Mar 2015 12:40:55pm


          You are welcome to your opinions but the actual chemical processes that occur within the brains limbic system are well understood by the scientific community.

          I would argue that it is critical that addicts understand the physical processes involved.

          The use of a drug like "meth" causes the brain to have a stimulative effect which hits the limbic system in seconds, and the focused nature of the impact yields an astonishingly pleasurable high. But the long term result is exactly the opposite. The bodys natural stock of the neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin molecules) starts to fall as the brain, striving to compensate for the artificial flooding of the reward center, orders a general cutback in production. At the same time, the receptors for these neurotransmitters become excessively sensitive due to the frequent, often unremitting nature of the stimulation.

          It is clear that "meth" causes the depletion of dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, it is well established that it is a general neurotransmitter depleter. The molecules of "meth" displace dopamine and norepinephrine in the storage vesicles, squeezing those two neurotransmitters into the synaptic gap and keeping them there. "Meth" interferes with the return of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin molecules to their storage sacs, a procedure known as reuptake blocking.

          This is the process of chemical imbalance that occurs and which the scientific community is aware of (not just "some doctors" as you claim).

          I strongly argue that addicts should understand the physical process involved in their addiction as this knowledge is a key part of the process of recovery from an addiction, ie. knowing that they are suffering anxiety, depression, psychotic type behaviours etc as a direct result of a temporary chemical imbalance, instead of thinking it is some permanant aspect of their persona, will enable them to see the light at the end of the proverbial (withdrawal) tunnel.

          Erroneously suggesting that that are just one of the 10% of the population that are natual addicts (which is a statistical nonsense) would indicate to them they have no ability to not be an addict, when clearly that is not the case when they realise that all human beings are subject to the same chemical process and that all humans can be addicts and all can similarly recover from a chemical addiction.

          The reference to the need for mental health professionals relates to the need to address any underlying psychological problems (ie. feeling of abandonment, loss, grief, trauma etc) which in some cases are the cause of the desire to use drug escapism to deal with problems. Though this is not necessarily the case for all people.

          ps. i'd suggest that saying statistical nonsense like only "10% of users for most drugs" become addicts is entirely unhelpful.

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  • Latin for politics:

    27 Mar 2015 11:39:52am

    I said it yesterday bit u chose no to print it; we need capital punishment brought in to eliminate three producers pushers and dealers of this putrid poison

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