Experts warn soaring rise in ice use is destroying lives
As a string of high-profile criminal cases are linked to methamphetamine use, new figures show cases of possession and trafficking are returning to horrific levels and experts are warning a new strategy is needed to stem the tide.
Police & Courts
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Experts on the frontline of the war against ice have warned use of the deadly and life-destroying drug will continue to soar in 2020.
Figures obtained by the Sunday Herald Sun show possession and trafficking offences for methamphetamine are returning to the horrific levels seen in 2016.
On average, there are 23 ice-related offences recorded in the state each day, with 8419 last year.
The figure is 10 per cent higher than it was five years ago.
Rehabilitation centres have warned the state’s current strategy needs to work better and that usage continues to rise.
It comes after a string of high-profile criminal cases have been linked to the drug.
Truck driver Mohinder Singh is alleged to have had two ice pipes in the cabin at the time of the tragic crash on April 22 that killed four police officers on the Eastern Freeway.
Richard Pusey, the Porsche-driving mortgage broker who was at the scene, was also alleged to have tested positive for the drug.
The National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program estimates methamphetamine consumption in Victoria rose by more than 50 per cent over the past three years.
Mick Hall, chief executive of addiction service DayHab, said attention had been drawn away from the issue after a surge of interest in 2015.
At the time, the Andrews Government unveiled its Ice Action Plan and put forward $45.5 million to reduce the supply and harm of the drug.
Mr Hall said the program was welcome but usage was still increasing, with more help and different approaches needed.
“We see the current strategy as a Band-Aid approach to something that needs surgery,” he said.
“I’m already seeing a rise in cases over the coming weeks. People are already starting come back through clinics in bigger numbers.”
Mr Hall said for some parts of the community taking ice was as commonplace as “going for a drink”.
“The ice drug ruins the brain and it sends a person psychotic,” he said. “I suspect that we are really going to see more strain on the welfare system.”
A Victoria Police spokesman said usage and possession offences were last year at their highest since 2016.
“This is what we consider a good result as drug use and possession is a detected crime, which means we are identifying and detecting these offences more often than previously,” he said.
A government spokesperson said alcohol and drug services were continuing to deliver care during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are ensuring there are alternative and flexible treatment options for people using alcohol and drug services – this includes more telehealth options and working with service providers to have pandemic plans in place,” the spokesperson said.
“We are also providing support services for people in quarantine or temporary accommodation, and establishing safe and flexible practices for opioid replacement therapy.”
COURT CASES
ATTACK
An ice addict allegedly threatened to cut the breasts off a woman he met on an online dating site and told her to urinate in a bottle during a horrifying ordeal in a Cranbourne bedroom.
Steven Green is accused of unleashing a terrifying attack on January 20 after his girlfriend, whom he’d met four months prior on plentyoffish.com, told him the relationship was no good.
The Frankston Magistrates Court heard the daily ice and cannabis abuser allegedly yanked the 26-year-old victim by the hair as she packed her bags and said he would keep her inside and that she had to urinate in a bottle.
ASSAULT
A violent thug who was on ice when he kicked at a police officer and assaulted his girlfriend after New Year’s Eve celebrations on the Mornington Peninsula has been jailed.
And despite throwing his girlfriend to the ground by the throat and shoving her into the dirt, the man was described as “caring, empathetic, intelligent and a positive influence” in glowing character references including one from the victim who supported him at Frankston Magistrates Court.
Horrified neighbours flocked to a Rosebud address when they heard a woman screaming following the unprovoked outburst just after 12.45am on January 1.
The ex-labourer, whose name was suppressed, had been using ice and was drinking before he unleashed the wild attack after changing a tyre on a vehicle on the street.
When his girlfriend approached him as he changed a tyre, the man snapped, smacking her phone out of her hands and squeezing at her throat before placing one hand over her mouth as she tried to scream.
The man pleaded guilty to recklessly cause injury and was jailed for three months on top of a 15 month community corrections order to be served upon release.
BASHING
Merwan Hejazi, 40, was sentenced at the Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court in January to six months’ jail after he brutally bashed his neighbour while in the midst of an ice-fuelled psychosis.
Senior Constable Jean-Philippe Britt told the court Hejazi was living with his mother in Lalor and believed people were “trying to control his thoughts” when he lashed out at the boy living next door.
The victim, a young man, had known Hejazi for about 20 years and the relationship between the families had previously been good until that point, the court was told.
Hejazi must also complete a 12-month community corrections order upon his release.
VIOLENT THEFT
An ice-addled Craigieburn teen was jailed for three years for a terrifying attack on a Didi driver which involved holding a knife to his throat before stealing his mobile phone.
Jake Patton, 19, was on his way home from a night out at the Roxburgh Park Hotel on July 26 last year when he directed the ride sharing driver to the dark intersection of Canisby Way and Olrig Drive just after 2am.
Patton, a daily user of methamphetamine and cannabis at the time, produced a knife, pushed it against the driver’s neck and told him not to report anything to police before stealing the driver’s mobile phone and running away.
Patton pleaded guilty to armed robbery and committing an indictable offence while on bail and was sentenced in the County Court on April 17.
CRIME SPREE
A Whittlesea business manager hid more than $100,000 worth of stolen goods at his parents’ home in return for the drug ice.
Police found stolen vehicles and heavy construction equipment when they raided Anthony Ghobril’s family’s 16ha property, bringing an end to his ice-fuelled crime spree.
The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to all the charges against him at Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Friday, March 7, having been held in custody since October 4.
BURGLARIES
A man led a police helicopter on a high-speed chase after “Mission Impossible”-style burglaries at a factory on Somerton Park Drive, Campbellfield and Epping RSL.
Police tracked Nikolie Jankovski and his co-offender in a helicopter as the pair drove recklessly, endangering lives, following the calculated robberies.
WEAPONS, DRUGS
A man who accelerated through a motel’s gate and sped down a highway with it still attached to his car has also admitted to stealing a dildo.
Alex Repac also used a fire extinguisher to smash his way out of a service station after not paying for petrol, and drove 50km/h over the speed limit as he tried to escape from police, Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court has heard.
The 36-year-old fronted the court on Friday, May 1, having been in jail since police chased him down in Sunbury on February 6 and found he had three knives, methamphetamine and cocaine.
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