CRIME gangs may be importing more of the illicit drug ice into Australia than ever before, but Lyndon Community’s Dr Julaine Allan said alcohol remains the greatest drug concern in Bathurst and the Central West.
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A report by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) released yesterday said methylamphetamine, and in particular crystal methylamphetamine (known as ice), poses the highest risk to the Australian community and is of significant national concern.
The report claims use of ice has more than doubled in recent years, and the ACC predicts the market to continue to grow.
It also claimed that just one gram of methylamphetamine costs Australian users $US500, but those in China can buy a gram for just $US80.
Where domestic production has traditionally been adequate to supply a relatively stable user base, the ACC claims Mexican drug trafficking cartels are becoming increasingly involved in the global methylamphetamine market, seeking international criminal partners in Australia among other countries.
Dr Allan said the methylamphetamine used around Bathurst has been “quite strong” with users subject to a wide range of side effects.
“Families will quite often report violence, aggressiveness and weird behaviour, but it’s a very small number of people,” she said.
“The attention that’s being paid to it is similar to what happened in the US a few years ago.”
Despite the serious side effects of methylamphetamine, Dr Allan said alcohol is still by far the most damaging drug in Australia.
“Seventy per cent of Australians drink alcohol and a third of those drink too much on some occasions,” she said.
“Ten per cent of the population [in Australia] use illicit drugs and of that about half of those will be methylamphetamine, so that’s quite a small number of people, but for these people it can have serious effects,”
Chifley local area command Acting Inspector Darryl Goodwin said illicit drug use has a wide impact on Bathurst, with users resorting to crime to feed their binges or habits.
“They try feed their habit and get their fix by committing crimes like stealing, shoplifting and break and enters,” he said. “Ice is a totally different type of drug ... it makes people crazy and violent and hard to handle.
“It puts everyone at risk, not just us but the paramedics and the mental health team.”
In his 22 years of policing, Acting Inspector Goodwin said he has never seen users have such violent reactions to an illicit drug.
“They assault people, they’re loud and obnoxious and they commit street offences,” he said.
