BY all accounts from police and drug experts, ice is increasingly making its presence felt among those in the Border community unfortunate enough to become addicted to it.
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But it’s the stories of the families affected by those addicted to the drug that are most heart-breaking.
Kerryn Johnston’s daughter doesn’t live on the Border but the Mount Beauty mother feels she is slowly losing her daughter to the drug in spite of efforts to bring her back from Sydney to the North East and to send her money and care packages to ensure she is looking after herself.
She wants to help Ellie by finding her a place where she can be rehabilitated, but the cost of private facilities is prohibitive and it is not possible to easily find a place in the public system when the demand from those seeking help is so great.
In the meantime she watches as her daughter’s behaviour changes, her appearance declines and she now finds herself in trouble with police.
Ms Johnston fears that pushing Ellie too hard into seeking help will push her away permanently and she has spoken out, to The Border Mail and to the Victorian ice inquiry, hoping to share the search for a solution.
