By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
FAMILIES affected by ice use need more help, according to Hotham MP Clare O’Neil.
According to her submission to the National Ice Taskforce, Ms O’Neil stated local experts agreed there was huge stigma and a “significant” lack of support services for relatives of ice users.
There was also a particularly critical shortage of rehab for teens, she stated.
Ms O’Neil also submitted for better protection for emergency services workers and a recognition that the ice ‘scourge’ is part of a broader drug problem.
Her response was formulated at a July community forum in Springvale, with a panel of experts including Victoria Police’s Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius, clinicians, ambulance workers and a teen-rehab manager.
The forum heard that two per cent of Australians consumed ice and that its use was most common among 20 to 29-year-old men.
In 2013-’14, ice use in metro Melbourne rose by more than 80 per cent. In that period, paramedics were at the wrong end of 314 threats or assaults from ice-affected patients.
At the forum, members of the public also shared their experience, including the aunt of an ice user who was unable to get a referral for help from local police.
“Our local community is feeling the effects of ice,” Ms O’Neil said – citing the ice-drug raids in homes in the region and the recent death of three pedestrians struck by a speeding ice-affected driver in Oakleigh.
“Local, state and federal government must work together to ensure that the best outcomes for victims, families and community are realised.”
