FIGHT TO THE METH

Teenagers, pregnant mums seek help as ice addiction continues to rise

DRUG rehab groups are treating more pregnant women and teenagers as the number of people seeking help for ice addiction increases.

“The game changer has been meth,” said a long-term rehab worker. About 60 per cent of his clients are methamphetamine addicts.

DRUG rehab groups are treating more pregnant women and teenagers as the number of people seeking help for ice addiction on the Gold Coast increases.

Long-term alcohol and drug rehab worker Grant Robin said the easy access to and cheap price of ice had resulted in an uptick in methamphetamine addicts.

“The game changer has been meth,” said Mr Robin, manager at Mirikai Clinical Services.

“We had some pregnant presentations come through and started seeing the female/ male balance even up, from 65/35, to about 50/50.

“There is a generational component to it. We’ve seen children come through of parents who have been in for treatment as well.

“Anecdotally, there’s a relationship between parents using through a pregnancy and the impact that has on children.

“We have community services that deliver family programs and certainly there is an issue out there for 12 to 25s.”

Mr Robin said 60 per cent of Mirikai’s clients were addicted to methamphetamine.

The Drug and Alcohol Brief Intervention Team (DABIT), which operates at EDs across the city, has seen a sharp increase in the number of people seeking help for addictions

to ice, opiates and cannabis, while alcohol, although still easily the biggest drain on DABIT resources, has slightly declined on ratio from 2017 to 2018. (See above)

Service director for Alcohol and Other Drugs Services (AODS), Todd Beyers said

a problematic number of ice presentations 18 months ago pushed Gold Coast Health to deliver new programs to ease the burden on community and health systems.

“These initiatives include developing and implementing a community engagement and education program for professionals, family and friends, as well as young people.”

While ice was at the forefront of Government agenda, he said only a small percentage of people were coming to EDs for support.

“As an example, in 2017 45 per cent of people contacting AODS did so for a primary alcohol concern. Ice use was the primary drug of concern for 17 per cent of the individuals who contacted AODS for support.

“Of those people referred to DABIT in 2017, 5 per cent identified ice as their primary substance of use, while 71 per cent presented with alcohol as their primary substance of use.”

Those on the frontline say the drug production and distribution landscape has changed over the years.

“You have mid-to-highrange dealers and networks, where some years ago you use to have criminal entities working within themselves,” Gold Coast Chief Superintendent Marty Mickelson said. “For example bikies and other crime groups, but they tend to blend in together now and work together.”

Chief Supt Mickelson said the police needed the help of the community by reporting drug activity to help save lives from drug overdoses. “There is no safe drug, you really are playing with the devil when you start on those sorts of things.”