The damning statistics now support the anecdotal tales – use of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, is rampant in Wodonga.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Worryingly, up to eight out of 10 cases police attend in the area are now ice-related.
Officers have reported children as young as 13 are using the highly-addictive drug and have even suggested meth usage hasn’t peaked.
Police are rightly alarmed with this statistic – and the community ought to be too.
Murray Valley MLA Tim McCurdy said last September he believed addiction to the drug in the region had not hit epidemic levels but the Police Association’s new figures, based on information from officers at the coalface, tell a different story.
Last year’s Victorian government parliamentary inquiry revealed the need for urgent action.
It pointed out a dramatic increase in the purity of crystal methamphetamine has escalated both the number of addicts and the drug’s harmful effects.
Rehabilitation facilities in the region are already at stretching point.
The closest detoxification centre is in Melbourne.
The Odyssey residential centre at Benalla only has 15 beds and a lengthy waiting list for new patients.
Frontline health professionals regularly cite this as a frequent barrier to addicts seeking help.
The Border Mail has previously stated on several occasions this scourge requires a holistic approach rather than the case of a law and order crackdown by police.
We believe better better treatment, meaningful support for families, improved treatment and targeted help for affected communities must be wilfully pursued by authorities.
This destructive drug problem has permeated the fabric of our communities.
The Border Mail wrote last September, the solution, if it is to be found, would mean working together at every level and politics has no part to play.
Rather than paying lots of lip service to this pervasive problem, there needs to be a broad collaborative strategy which attempts to tackle this problem.
As a nation, we can ill afford any more non-activity when tackling this significant social and health issue.