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| Mums and business owners among ice users in the grip of western Sydney’s epidemic | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 15 2015, 04:14 PM (55 Views) | |
| Guest | Oct 15 2015, 04:14 PM Post #1 |
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Mums and business owners among ice users in the grip of western Sydney’s epidemic MOTHERS, business owners and primary school-aged children are among the western Sydney residents in the grip of Australia’s ice epidemic. Considered to be a drug used by the fringes of society, the people enrolled in the Bridges drug and alcohol support service at Blacktown prove the drug can invade anyone’s life. Bridges acting director George Bowie said ice users were getting younger, with 4000 high school students aged between 12 and 17 in western Sydney already trying the drug. Bridges acting director George Bowie said more and more high school students were taking up ice. Recovering addicts and a support person meet every second Wednesday for the Living With Addictions group, run by Bridges. Paul Munro stopped using ice after he found himself in jail, charged with domestic violence. Peter Dionysopoulos said the drug was a “big lie” because users would never feel the effects of first high again. Rocky was involved in a car accident, with her friend killed in the crash in 2012, and turned to ice after she couldn’t handle the trauma. 1 of 5 “This is the equivalent of having 100 school buses full of high school students who are potential ice addicts,” Mr Bowie said. “There are 25 buses being added to that line every year.” Between July 2014 and January this year, 27 per cent of Bridges’ new clients were addicted to ice, up by nearly 40 per cent from 2013. A dedicated drug counsellor for more than 20 years, Mr Bowie said ice had a higher potency than other drugs in the community. “With any addiction, people need more (in order) to get more of a kick,” Mr Bowie said. “That means they’re not going to be just using it on the weekend; they’ll have to be using it on the weekend to get themselves up. “If you start on ice, you’re near enough gone. The effects of coming off it are really quite devastating — it’s scary.” Bridges offered a “holistic” approach for people looking to become sober, Mr Bowie said. “We’re not just dealing with the drugs and the alcohol; we look at the big picture,” he said. “There’s no medication to treat ice as opposed to alcohol or heroin, so it’s usually counselling. “We look at the clinical side and what’s happening underneath, and we address that as well because, if we don’t, it’ll just be a revolving-door syndrome.” Family case worker Julijana Buvcevski said she counselled many children struggling with an ice addiction in the Blacktown area. “Children don’t know how to tell their parents that they have an addiction problem,” she said. “It’s easily accessible and children can make one or two phone calls and they’ve got it. “We’re not talking about cannabis or a cigarette anymore; we’re talking about straight to the heavy stuff — it’s ice and pills.” DOONSIDE MAN CHARGED WITH ALLEGEDLY SELLING ICE AT LAKE WOODCROFT ICE GROWS INTO HOT PROBLEM FOR WESTERN SYDNEY DRUG COUNSELLOR AND EX-ADDICTS SAY DECRIMINALISING ICE WON’T WORK Part of the group’s support includes a fortnightly Living with Addictions group, held every second Wednesday at Marayong House in Quakers Hill from 6pm to 8pm. Participants must be assessed at Bridges’ Blacktown base before being referred to the group. Mr Bowie said the surge of ice addictions in the Blacktown area was putting a strain on Bridges’ resources. Three recovering addicts who have sought help with the Living with Addictions program share their battle with overcoming their crystal methamphetamine (ice) addiction: Paul Munro, 30, truck driver “I started taking ice probably around the age of 26 or 27. It got offered to me. I used to take speed on and off — I might have it one weekend and then not have it for months and it wouldn’t worry you. The guy that we used to buy it off stopped selling speed and started selling ice. At first I said no because as far as I knew, it was just like heroin and it was a downer drug to make you all relaxed. I got told it’s just like speed. “I’d smoke it every two hours. Cost-wise, depending on the quality of the gear, it was $400-$500 a week. I didn’t care about anything else except getting high. Looking back now, it looks completely stupid. “I had a perfect life and I went and wrecked two and half years of it because of something stupid.” “It turned me into a violent person to the fact that I got arrested and charged with domestic violence and common assault on May 25. Before ice, I was a very fun-loving person to be around and here I was, sitting in the cell, locked up. I just realised that if I keep taking this drug, this is the life I’m going to lead from now on. There and then I basically decided enough is enough, I’ve made my fun and let’s make it better. “I looked at me getting off ice as climbing a mountain — it’s a big challenge. I soon learnt that I had to put something worthwhile on the top of the mountain so I took my missus and my two kids up there, knowing they were enough to drive me up this mountain. I learnt to deal with my feelings. That’s where Bridges came in. They gave me guidelines on how to focus and how to deal with your feelings and deal with the side effects of coming off it.” Peter Dionysopoulos, 34, business owner “I first dabbled and played with weed when I was about 15 years old. And then about three years ago, I had a friend ask me, ‘Hey Pete, try this, it’s just gas. It’s just the same as speed but it’s a purer form’. The high was amazing; it was unlike anything I’d ever felt. “This drug is a big lie — that feeling never happens again. Being addicted to that drug is the worst thing in the world. It’s hell on earth. It plays with your mind and makes you think that what you’re doing is OK. “When you finally realise that the drug’s been lying to you, it’s too late — you’re addicted.” “You’d concentrate on the small things that don’t matter and leaving everything else that mattered aside. You’d forget about it and have a smoke so things like our relationship, the family relationship, our household and finances all suffered quite greatly. I knew that it was causing pain in my family. I never knew or understood the full brunt of it. “An intervention was organised in August and I knew that I wanted to stop so I was quite receptive of that. I almost lost my kids and my wife which are the most valuable and important things to me. Along with it, I almost lost my house and my car. “It wasn’t that I didn’t have enough self control; there’s no one who’s got enough self control for that s---. It only takes a couple of turns and you’re gone. The people that are stuck on it need to get off it. It has to be wiped from the face of this planet, it’s that bad.” Rocky, 25, stay-at-home mother “I was in a car accident and my friend was driving in wet weather. We crossed two lanes, a median strip, two lanes and under a truck. When I woke in the car, I was trapped with my dead friend on top of me for two and a half hours. It was July 23, 2012, on Horsley Drive. “Every time I slept after that, I would flash back to the accident. No doctors would help me because they thought I was drug-addicted so I turned to ice so I didn’t sleep. “I was using $1000 worth of ice a day from October 2013 to April last year.” “I’d isolate myself or I’d play the pokies. You wouldn’t see me for days because I’d be in my room married to the pipe! “Then I found out I was pregnant and gave it all up. It’s been almost a year and I’m finding other ways. The Living With Addictions group, Bridges and Graceades Cottage help so much. If I didn’t have counselling, it would be hard to deal with. I take each step as it comes and use any support that is out there. I’m so proud of myself that I’ve made it this far. It helps when you’ve got family and community support. “I used to be the youth leader for Bidwill Residents Action Group and I fell off from that because of the ice addiction. Now that I’ve beat the ice addiction, we’re starting it back up.” |
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