1. Introduction
Methamphetamine is a man-made stimulant drug to speed up the messages travelling between the brain and the body (Ice Facts 2014). It was first synthesized in 1918 and used during World War II (Lee, N 2013). Ice is methamphetamine in a crystal form and it has been in the news as a growing and serious issue across Australia. The head of emergency at ST Vincent’s Hospital, Gordian Fulde, says “Ice is the most evil drug we have at the moment…….Ice addicts are the most out-of-control, the most violent human beings I have seen in my life” (Hildebrand, J 2015).
1.1 Statistics The drug was reported to be the second most widely used illicit drug in the world after Cannabis. (ABC News, 2015). The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) report also indicated that organized crime is involved due to the considerable increase in the amount of Ice being seized within Australia since 2010 (ABC News, 2015).
Figure 1: ACC Drug data report, (Goldsworthy, T, McGillivray, L 2015) The report of the national survey (2013), estimates 50.4% of the 2.1% of Australian methamphetamine users aged 14 and over have used Ice as the main form of drug in the previous 12 months (see figure 2) (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2015). The increased …show more content…
Furthermore, the Productivity Commission estimates a cost of $88,000 a year to accommodate one prisoner which suggests an opportunity to fund education and treatment programs that might be more effective in reducing the harm caused by Ice (Short, M 2014). Mr. Nadine Ezard, St Vincent hospital’s clinical Director of alcohol and drug services, also suggested avoiding a kind of ‘moral panic’ in the society about Ice to help encourage more people to seek treatment (Hildebrand, J
Methamphetamine is a man-made stimulant drug to speed up the messages travelling between the brain and the body (Ice Facts 2014). It was first synthesized in 1918 and used during World War II (Lee, N 2013). Ice is methamphetamine in a crystal form and it has been in the news as a growing and serious issue across Australia. The head of emergency at ST Vincent’s Hospital, Gordian Fulde, says “Ice is the most evil drug we have at the moment…….Ice addicts are the most out-of-control, the most violent human beings I have seen in my life” (Hildebrand, J 2015).
1.1 Statistics The drug was reported to be the second most widely used illicit drug in the world after Cannabis. (ABC News, 2015). The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) report also indicated that organized crime is involved due to the considerable increase in the amount of Ice being seized within Australia since 2010 (ABC News, 2015).
Figure 1: ACC Drug data report, (Goldsworthy, T, McGillivray, L 2015) The report of the national survey (2013), estimates 50.4% of the 2.1% of Australian methamphetamine users aged 14 and over have used Ice as the main form of drug in the previous 12 months (see figure 2) (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2015). The increased …show more content…
Furthermore, the Productivity Commission estimates a cost of $88,000 a year to accommodate one prisoner which suggests an opportunity to fund education and treatment programs that might be more effective in reducing the harm caused by Ice (Short, M 2014). Mr. Nadine Ezard, St Vincent hospital’s clinical Director of alcohol and drug services, also suggested avoiding a kind of ‘moral panic’ in the society about Ice to help encourage more people to seek treatment (Hildebrand, J