Matt Johnson: Time We Tackle Our Ice Scourge (Herald Sun 19/05/2020)

OPINION
Matt Johnston: Time we tackle our ice scourge

A combination of job losses, isolation, and anguish in the coming months will unleash a
dangerous new undercurrent of methamphetamine abuse that we must tackle early, writes Matt
Johnston.
MATT JOHNSTON, Herald Sun Subscriber only | May 17, 2020 8:00pm
A report by a global commission on drug policy recently covered the

trend of users increasingly ordering ice online. Picture: Getty Images
You can’t go five minutes these days without the drug ice raising its ugly, pockmarked face into public
view.
It was allegedly there — twice — during the Eastern Freeway carnage that claimed the lives of four innocent police officers.
The driver of the speeding car who stopped traffic allegedly tested positive for methamphetamines, while the driver of the
truck that caused the carnage allegedly had an ice pipe in his cabin.
It hangs around the footy, whether it be at another Ben Cousins arrest, or allegedly the downfall of former Kangaroos coach
Dean Laidley.
Just wait a few days and you will see it at another big tragedy. There are also the non-celebrity ice cases clogging courts and
hospitals.
What scares me is to think about how many people are flying high under the radar.
People using ice who are driving along the suburban streets on which you usually take the kids to school.
The Eastern Freeway crash was so horrific that the fact drugs came up in reports of the allegations seemed like an aside.
Are we so desensitised to ice that we now shrug our shoulders when it’s mentioned?
Perhaps we think it’s taken such a hold in society that it’s no longer remarkable.
The indiscriminate aim of this drug, as it takes hold everywhere from Fitzroy to Cranbourne to Williamstown, has been
rammed home in recent high-profile cases.
It doesn’t matter if it is ultimately proved it is a Porsche-driving mortgage broker, or a truck driver who picks up shifts from a
transport company.
The Eastern Freeway crash was so horrific that the fact drugs came
up in reports of the allegations seemed like an aside. Picture: Mark
Stewart
It is everywhere from Eldorado in northern Victoria to the far reaches of East Gippsland.
After the Eastern Fwy horror there’s a review of drug-driving laws — again — but there should be a greater outcry over this
substance that ruins lives.
Crime statistics are often trotted out to justify political interventions or the lack of intervention.
Last year, the number of offences that involved methamphetamines was 8419. This was up on the previous two years but not
as high as the record 8806 in 2016.
Does this explain everything, though? The numbers bounce around due to police operations and decisions made around law
enforcement, as well as policies around harm minimisation, such as a drug injecting centre.
What’s patently obvious is that while the crimes committed are the showy foliage of this problem, the roots are much deeper.
If someone does something out of the ordinary, how often do you hear that person was “probably on ice”.
How did we come to this?
In 2015, the Andrews Government released an ice action plan that said it was “the drug that got away from us”. Since then
there have been more treatment beds opened, millions of dollars put into intervention, and an education campaign. Sadly,
that effort has probably only scratched the surface.
This drug is clearly still rampant and I’m scared about what’s to come if it’s pushed to the periphery in difficult months to
come. We need to talk much more about ice and the disgusting mess it leaves.
Coronavirus understandably dominates everything these days.
People are isolated, scared, and trying to deal with the pressures of potentially losing their jobs.
If you’ve ever heard of a better combination of factors that would allow meth to wrap its grimy, disease-riddled hands
around, I would like to hear them.
We need to talk much more about ice and the disgusting mess it
leaves, writes Matt Johnston.
When people are cooped up with friends or loved ones who are off their heads, consequences will get ugly. A report by a
global commission on drug policy recently covered the trend of users increasingly ordering supplies online.
That’s cutting out pretty much the only level of human interaction required in a lot of these deals.
The more the issue gets pushed to the back channels of the internet and anonymous postal delivery, the more harm it’s likely
to cause.
Especially while people are looking the other way, or concentrating on what are understandably deemed bigger issues. Drug
abuse is perhaps one serious consequence of social dysfunction set to stem from COVID-19.
In other parts of the world, there will be Gotham City scenarios in cities wracked by debt and destitution. Thankfully
Australia is unlikely to see the scale of social problems looming overseas.
But we won’t escape unscathed.
A combination of job losses, isolation, and anguish will unleash a dangerous new undercurrent that we must tackle early.
Just like with ice, we can’t let this get away from us.
Matt Johnston is a Herald Sun columnist
[email protected]
@Media_Matt

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OPINION

Matt Johnston: Time we tackle our ice scourge

A report by a global commission on drug policy recently covered the

How did we come to this?

Coronavirus understandably dominates everything these days.

But we won’t escape unscathed.

Matt Johnston is a Herald Sun columnist

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