NXT Senator Rex Patrick calls for emergency ice meeting with federal health minister Greg Hunt

CALLS for more cash to prevent and treat ice addiction in South Australia is gathering pace following the release of shocking data showing our drug woes are worsening.

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URGENT calls for more cash to prevent and treat ice addiction in South Australia are gathering pace following the release of shocking data showing the scourge is worsening.

Nick Xenophon Team Senator Rex Patrick has written to Health Minister Greg Hunt seeking an emergency meeting to ensure the national war chest to tackle ice is being handed out where its most needed.

The Advertiser today revealed amount of methamphetamine — known as meth or ice — used in regional SA doubled between August and December while Adelaide remains the country’s ice capital.

Senator Patrick said he was concerned about reports in The Advertiser that SA was receiving less than the state’s fair share of funding under the National Ice Action Strategy.

“SA is receiving less than its fair share on a per capita basis. Of even greater concern is the fact that the funding does not seem to be directed to each state on the basis of need,” he told Mr Hunt.

“The rationale for the allocation seems to be based on 2011 Census data (not even 2016 Census data) and pays no regard to wastewater analysis data that could and should be taken into consideration.

“I find the approach adopted by the (Health) Department untenable in the circumstances.”

Federal Parliament’s law enforcement committee called for the Government’s wastewater analysis, which reveals levels of drug use, to be used to split the $241.5 million for treatment services.

Senator Rex Patrick. Picture Kym Smith

Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: Lukas Coch

The committee found regional areas in Queensland and NSW were getting the biggest injection of funding when the wastewater analysis shows ice use there was almost half that recorded in Adelaide.

Chief Inspector Tony Crameri, from the SA Police Serious and Organised Crime Branch, said it was “disheartening” but was not surprised by the results of the latest wastewater analysis report.

“We’re not aware of the reasons why people are using methamphetamine at a high level (but) we’re certainly focusing our resources towards methamphetamine,” he said.

“The good thing about the wastewater results is it gives a scientific analysis of what is actually occurring when usually we rely on people to tell us ... we’ve got some scientific analysis now that put us on the same level of playing field with other states, so we can see what’s actually occurring in the community.”

The largest haul destined for Adelaide streets was 313kg of methamphetamine SA Police seized in co-operation with Australian Federal Police and Border Force.

“We’re talking very large amounts which once upon a time we never saw those,” Chief Insp Crameri said.

SA Police’s Operation Atlas, which targets amphetamine-type stimulants, has been running since 2014.

But a Health Department spokeswoman dismissed the recommendation and cast doubt over the reliability of the wastewater analysis.

The fourth wastewater report released on Thursday exposed the scale of the ice crisis facing the country with more than 8 tonnes of the destructive drug consumed in the past year.

SA and Western Australia were worst affected. In both states the level of use recorded in the city and regions outstripped the national average.

Metropolitan Adelaide recorded the highest average use of anywhere in the country where almost 100 doses were recorded as being consumed per 1000 people a day in October.

This means the equivalent of one in 10 people in Adelaide took one dose of the destructive drug.

Despite a small drop in use in December, Adelaide held on to its unwanted title as the country’s ice capital.

The National Ice Taskforce report, which was used to create the national strategy, found that proportionally Australia uses more methamphetamine than almost any other country and the number of users continues to grow.