OPINION: Time to scare people straight on dangers of ice
IF you want to know how big the problem with the drug ice is in our region, there has been one arrest per day since the start of this year.
Lismore
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IF you want to know how big the problem with the drug ice is in our region, there has been one arrest per day since the start of this year.
Ice is insidious and it is quickly becoming the drug of choice in regional areas like ours because it is cheap and readily accessible.
It can basically be cooked up in a backyard lab and bikie gangs are known to be distributing it in large quantities.
Read more: Ice tearing us apart, with users as young as 13
The police say they can't arrest their way out of this problem.
Therefore we have to tackle it at the other end and that means education, treatment services and understanding the root causes that prompt ice addiction in the first place.
I think it is time to scare people straight.
The harmful physical side effects of ice are horrendous and yes, you can overdose on it.
Physical problems include weight loss and heart palpitations.
Staph infections are commonplace and these result in sores on the body. Ice addicts can compulsively pick at and scratch their bodies believing there are bugs crawling under their skin.
Smoking ice can cause severe dental problems that may require a person's whole set of teeth to be removed.
Other consequences of ice include: kidney and lung disorders that can be fatal; brain damage; disorganised, chaotic, damaging lifestyles, permanent psychological problems; excessive weight loss; diminished social ability; lowered resistance to illness; liver disease and stroke
Paranoia is very common among ice addicts and they are prone to attack people.
It's time, as a community, to get our heads together and come up with a plan to combat its evil spread.
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