Sharp rise in drug-related injuries and assaults in Melbourne

This is the moment a couple openly injected in front of children playing on a busy city street, with experts warning drug use is on the rise again.

Three people have died on Melbourne’s streets as experts warn the city is facing a deluge of powerful drugs now that Australia’s borders are open again.

Salvation Army welfare worker Major Brendan Nottle confirmed three fatal overdoses had occurred in a matter of weeks and warned there had also been a sharp rise in drug related injuries and assaults throughout Melbourne’s inner city including in Fitzroy and St Kilda.

“Absolutely we are concerned,” he told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“What we are seeing is literally killing people, and these are long-term drug users, so that shows the powerfulness and the lethalness of what’s out there.”

While the deaths are still under investigation by the coroner, it’s understood methamphetamines were involved in each of the cases. However, there have been reports of more heroin hitting the streets as well.

In shocking scenes on Friday night, the Sunday Herald Sun also witnessed a man and a woman openly injecting drugs on Southbank boulevard, while children played at a gaming installation just meters away.

A man and a woman openly inject drugs in Southbank. Picture: Jason Edwards

The confronting scene took place next to children playing. Picture: Jason Edwards

There has been an increase in drug related injuries and assaults in the inner city. Picture: Jason Edwards

There are concerns about the ‘lethalness’ of drugs on the streets. Picture: Jason Edwards

Mr Nottle said he had seen a definite uptick in drug harm since Prime Minister Scott Morrison opened the borders on February 21, and users appeared to be more aggressive toward general members of the public.

One reveller from Fitzroy told the Herald Sun “drug dealers are back in business for sure”.

“During lockdown it was impossible to get anything. You could get some things sent to you by Uber but that was rare. Now it’s easy, because there is so much more around. It’s good **** too.”

Mr Nottle warned that psychoactive synthetic drugs, including powders and cannabis, had also become more prevalent with users being “’very aggressive”.

Amendments were made to the state’s Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act in 2017 to outlaw synthetic formulas, but these were having little effect, he added.

“The makers are just changing the formula slightly and making it legal again,” he warns.

Sources also say that drug use is up in regional areas.

The amount of methamphetamines in the regions dropped drastically during lockdown, but as of the end of last year the levels returned to normal.

Opposition Mental Health spokeswoman Emma Kealy said: “Desperate Victorians at crisis point are turning to extreme self-harm because the mental health workforce is so under-resourced by this Labor Government.”

“It’s been three years since the Royal Commission added to the dozens of reports warning Victoria’s critical workforce shortfalls will threaten lives, but Labor has arrogantly ignored the calls,” she said.

A Victoria Police spokesman said police remain unwavering in its commitment to minimising the devastating impact of drugs in the community and improving health and community safety for all Victorians.

“We know drug related harm impacts the community in many different ways, including drug-fuelled violence, burglaries and thefts committed to support an addiction, drug-related road trauma, and the myriad of health issues associated with illicit drug use,” he said.

“From an enforcement perspective, we continue to focus on reducing the supply of illicit substances, including new and emerging drugs.

“Police aggressively target those trading on the misery of others by dismantling drug networks and creating a hostile environment for drug traffickers, cultivators and manufacturers.”

A state government spokesman said the Andrews Labor Government was investing record amounts to reduce drug harm in the community.

“We have doubled the number of beds in drug rehabilitation programs across the state and boosted access to community-based counselling and therapeutic day rehabilitation,” he said.

“We also continue to support the MSIR which since opening has safely managed more than 4600 overdoses and saved at least 21 lives – MSIR has taken pressure off local hospitals, reduced ambulance call outs, led to a decrease in public injecting and saved lives.”

An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said: “A preliminary assessment by Ambulance Victoria suggests there has not been an increase in drug-related callouts in recent weeks within inner-city Melbourne.”

“We remind community members that the effects of illicit drugs can be life-threatening,” the spokeswoman said.

: It doesn’t matter why a patient needs an ambulance, we will always treat them without judgment and ensure they are safe.”