'He's not my son anymore, there's nothing there': anguish amid ice crisis
Amid the violence, self-harm, threats, arrests, and hospital stays, Chloe* knew she'd lost her son, 16, to the drug "ice" when he accused her of poisoning his favourite dinner, and scraped it into the bin.
"He's a beautiful boy, but he's not my son any more, there's nothing there," the mother of four said through her tears.
"I don't think he is going to make it to the end of the year."
The number of Australians who've used ice has almost doubled to 1.3 million people, and the number of new users is rapidly increasing, the latest data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reveals.
And despite the massive increase in ice-related arrests and seizures, users say it's easy to get. They are using more, and more often. One in four users report using ice at least once a week, twice as many as in 2010.
It is also increasing in strength, and though heroin users in the 1990s were killing themselves by accidental overdose, the "ice" age is producing violent, psychotic users, who put the entire community at risk, health experts say.
The state government cites a seven-fold increase over the past six years in emergency department presentations where ice was a factor.
Meanwhile, Newcastle police have confirmed that the number of young people using the drug is on the rise, the Newcastle Herald reports.
In nine short months, Chloe's teenaged son, Martin*, landed himself in hospital three times with serious, self-inflicted injuries. After numerous arrests, the frightening episodes of self-harm and violent threats on his family, he wound up in jail.
He has jumped out of cars, stolen his sister's holiday money, crashed another sibling's brand new car, sold his clothes for cash, dealt drugs, and worse.
During a 10-day stay in September at Nexus, an in-patient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital, the full picture emerged.
"At Nexus they found he had scabies, head lice, lost 15 kilograms and had been raped," Chloe said.
She feels there was a lack of services available for her son, who first sought help for mental health issues. He quickly spiralled out of control, became addicted to ice, and wound up being scheduled in a mental health facility against his will.
On his release, however, there were still too few services to support him, leaving him high and dry, she said.
"We love him, and he's loved and looked after, and I did all the right things, and did he get mixed up with the wrong crowd? I think it all started with mental health issues, but the services were not set up for someone like him."
Once out of hospital, he was given access to just two hours of counselling a week with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, and it wasn't enough. Other parents agree – there is not enough out there for kids between acute hospital admissions, and general counselling, and the situation is worse if drugs are involved.
"He came to me in November wanting help, to talk, and the system failed him.
"I work in the health system myself and I never realised how ill-equipped people are, and inexperienced. Even at Nexus they said they are not equipped for ice addicts, that they are mental health.
"They say it's a blocked road, there's nothing out there, so I don't know where you go from there. I don't know how to help him properly.
"What do I do if I have to sit across from another mother because [he] has stabbed [her son] to death? What do I say to her?
"It's taking its toll on everyone. The past nine months have nearly killed me, and the rest of my family."
Chloe wound up with a padlock on her bedroom door and and an Apprehended Violence Order against her son.
"Police are telling me it's an epidemic, and that Newcastle doesn't realise how hard it is going to hit in the next 12 months."
After once again coming into contact with police, Martin was taken back to hospital, but not for long.
"[The doctor] rang on [October 19] to say he was hysterical, and dangerous, behaving in bizarre and unpredictable ways, and they were going to have him transferred to the involuntary lockdown rehab unit, and I was relieved.
"Then on [October 20] a second doctor rang to say he appeared visually normal and able to construct sentences and could be released."
She had planned for him to attend a rehabilitation unit in Brisbane on October 23, two days after he turned 17, but he didn't make it, winding up in jail instead.
"This can't be swept under the carpet."
A Hunter New England Health spokeswoman said they could not comment on Martin's case without his written permission.
Mental health and drug and alcohol services worked closely together, the spokeswoman said, to offer assessment, referral, counselling and withdrawal support.
Their services include the Stimulant Treatment Program, a dedicated clinic for methamphetamine users; the Lakeview Detoxification Service at Belmont, a residential detox facility; and the Mental Health and Substance Use inpatient unit at the Calvary Mater Newcastle.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hes-not-m...ice-crisis-20151101-gkobb2.html#ixzz3qOcb3Vxq
