Crystal methamphetamine addiction was put squarely under the spotlight when the state government announced a new special commission of inquiry on Monday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The inquiry hopes to expose just how widespread and damaging the drug is across NSW, especially in regional centres where ‘ice’ use has torn communities apart.
Robyn Lewis has seen first-hand MIA families falling to pieces before her eyes, and she herself battled with ice addiction for 15 years before coming clean.
Having spoken with families in Griffith, Ms Lewis said she can tell many sad stories about the harms methamphetamine can wreak in regional areas.
The West Wyalong woman said about 98 per cent of the people who come to her for help are desperate family members who are worried about their addicted loved ones.
“It’s usually not the addict who reaches out, it’s their loved ones who are at a wits end because they can see the roller coaster of addiction,” Ms Lewis said.
“These people need intense therapy, but they also need understanding, love, and compassion.”
She said it was a gruelling road to recovery, but one that was possible with the help of counselling, group-therapy, and lots of support from family and friends.
She said she was worried about the growing number of young people who lived by themselves without a loved one or family member to take care of them, and she said more needed to be done to help addicts.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the ice inquiry would talk about strategies for cracking down on ice dealers and increasing rehabilitation services.
“We want every option on the table to bolster our existing efforts to combat the evolving threat of this dangerous, illegal drug – and to get help for those who need it,” Ms Berejiklian said.
The Special Commission of Inquiry into Ice will talk to communities and experts to hash out a plan of attack, with a final report expected some time next year.
NSW Shadow Health Minister Walt Secord said that he too wanted to see more being done to help remote areas suffering from the epidemic.
“Ice is the new scourge – particularly in rural and regional areas,” Mr Secord said.
“While NSW Labor supports a special commission of inquiry, a wider drug summit is needed; one patterned on the 1999 one which gave rise to the medically supervised injection facility.”