poledriver
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Warning that Schoolies could be drugs hotbed as students ditch marijuana for easy-to-get ice
GOLD Coast high school students are ditching marijuana and opting for Ice as their drug of choice.
Michael Barrett, chief executive of Transformations rehabilitation centre in Surfers Paradise, warned Ice had become rampant in local schools and this did not bode well for Schoolies.
“It’s not long until kids start flooding in to the Gold Coast and this stuff is going to be offered to them,” he said.
“Unfortunately, Ice is cheap and easily accessible,” he said. “Ten years ago, marijuana was a problem in high schools but it has been replaced by Ice because now it can also be smoked.”
Mr Barrett said he was receiving an increase in calls from state high schools struggling with Ice use among their students.
“It’s so easily accessible, even for kids. It can cost as little as $10 for a hit but then their tolerance to the drug goes up, so they need more and more to get a hit,” he said.
“Schools are telling us their drug awareness programs are not working at the moment. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ice is also in our private schools.
“They tell us their students really need to hear from someone who has used Ice so we take our program graduates in to the schools to share their stories.”
Mr Barrett said he was also seeing an alarming number of young people seeking help from Transformations for Ice addiction.
“They are getting younger and younger,” he said. “We are seeing 16 and 17-year-olds who have been on it for a few years and want to get into our program.”
He said the fact that Ice no longer had to be injected but could also be smoked made it seem more acceptable to teenagers.
“When cocaine became crack cocaine, it became more accessible and addictive. The same applies to methamphetamines, which no longer have to be injected, so its seen as not so bad by young people.”
Mr Barrett warned that the mental health issues caused by Ice addiction were far worse than those linked to any other drug.
“We are seeing an increase in shootings of psychotic addicts, who are out of control and going at police with weapons. It’s very sad to see.”
Transformations have a 75 per cent success rate and its programs are full most of the year.
However, it has had its fair share of problems, as highlighted by an incident a few weeks ago.
“A guy who was in our program, left and came back high on ice was waving a gun around in our church,” Mr Barrett said.
“He was threatening everybody and it took the police 30 minutes to get here. During that time, we tried to calm him down but someone could have been shot.”
http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au...e/news-story/7f5cca8ca0283959a9f150310aa11e91
GOLD Coast high school students are ditching marijuana and opting for Ice as their drug of choice.
Michael Barrett, chief executive of Transformations rehabilitation centre in Surfers Paradise, warned Ice had become rampant in local schools and this did not bode well for Schoolies.
“It’s not long until kids start flooding in to the Gold Coast and this stuff is going to be offered to them,” he said.
“Unfortunately, Ice is cheap and easily accessible,” he said. “Ten years ago, marijuana was a problem in high schools but it has been replaced by Ice because now it can also be smoked.”
Mr Barrett said he was receiving an increase in calls from state high schools struggling with Ice use among their students.
“It’s so easily accessible, even for kids. It can cost as little as $10 for a hit but then their tolerance to the drug goes up, so they need more and more to get a hit,” he said.
“Schools are telling us their drug awareness programs are not working at the moment. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ice is also in our private schools.
“They tell us their students really need to hear from someone who has used Ice so we take our program graduates in to the schools to share their stories.”
Mr Barrett said he was also seeing an alarming number of young people seeking help from Transformations for Ice addiction.
“They are getting younger and younger,” he said. “We are seeing 16 and 17-year-olds who have been on it for a few years and want to get into our program.”
He said the fact that Ice no longer had to be injected but could also be smoked made it seem more acceptable to teenagers.
“When cocaine became crack cocaine, it became more accessible and addictive. The same applies to methamphetamines, which no longer have to be injected, so its seen as not so bad by young people.”
Mr Barrett warned that the mental health issues caused by Ice addiction were far worse than those linked to any other drug.
“We are seeing an increase in shootings of psychotic addicts, who are out of control and going at police with weapons. It’s very sad to see.”
Transformations have a 75 per cent success rate and its programs are full most of the year.
However, it has had its fair share of problems, as highlighted by an incident a few weeks ago.
“A guy who was in our program, left and came back high on ice was waving a gun around in our church,” Mr Barrett said.
“He was threatening everybody and it took the police 30 minutes to get here. During that time, we tried to calm him down but someone could have been shot.”
http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au...e/news-story/7f5cca8ca0283959a9f150310aa11e91
