Ice battle one we must win
THE fight against ice is something we can so easily give up on.
Before we start the war the urge is to throw our hands up in defeat. The breadth of the impact of this killer drug on our community, documented in a series of articles in the past week, is just too wide.
A heartbroken father walks out of the Southport court, refusing to take his drugaddicted son home. The 17-year-old had allegedly snatched a bag from a 79-year-old woman at the markets. Another teen allegedly drunk and drug-affected says she “shoulda, coulda, woulda” killed somebody after driving into a garden bed.
At Robina Hospital, the drug is found in the grounds, confirming reports by this newspaper almost a year ago of a drug trade close to where students catch the train.
Today the Bulletin provides more personal stories of ice addiction for youths and statistics which truly shock, showing the massive increase in charges of possession, supply and trafficking of methamphetamine.
How do we stop this epidemic? Where is the light in the darkness of this drug which does not discriminate, ruining Glitter Strip social page regulars and those already on struggle street?
For the fight to be successful, it has to be fought on two fronts. The key is both stopping the supply of ice and stopping those who want to access it.
The recent heart-wrenching Harriet Wran court case in NSW shows why. The daughter of the late Neville and Jill Wran is from wealth, enjoys her mother’s deep love and had stints in rehabilitation clinics here on the Coast. It took her jailing in relation to a murder to halt her addiction.
Police on the Coast have laid 2724 charges for possession of ice in the past 12 months. Consider the economic and emotional cost from the Wran case. Then multiply by almost 3000.
To stop the supply, police need to be able to prevent the importation of precursor chemicals which enable criminals to cook methamphetamine. They need to stop the bikies from getting the 100 or so ingredients. They and local suppliers need to be educated about these ingredients, and any huge possible take-up sparking suspicion.
To stop those from wanting to access it, the community must buy into a prevention program. In the past week the Australian Anti Ice Campaign was invited to two of the Coast’s biggest private schools. After a session warning Year 12 students about ice, administrators invited them back to talk to junior grades.
They tell students the truth about ice, that the drug amounts to poison, both in its ingredients and what it can do to your life.
The AAIC is preparing a business case for federal funding, but these volunteers can no longer afford to lease their Helensvale base and through the help of the Broadbeach Rotary Club will move to a temporary shed.
The choices and consequences as a community have never been so stark. We can provide better resources for police and prevention, or retreat and leave our youngest to death on the streets.