NEWS: News.com.au - 27/10/2005 '73,000 hooked on methamphetamines'

73,000 hooked on methamphetamines
From: AAP
By Adam Gartrell
October 27, 2005

ABOUT 73,000 Australians are now addicted to methamphetamines, more than double the number dependent on heroin, new research shows.

Drawing on interviews with more than 400 users, dealers, health workers and law enforcement officers, the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) report is the most comprehensive study undertaken on the Australian methamphetamine market.

Released in Sydney today, the report examines the importation, distribution, demand, price, criminal involvement and health and social concerns surrounding methamphetamine use.

Methamphetamines are increasingly popular synthetic stimulant drugs sold under a variety of street names, including speed, base, meth, ice, crystal and crystal meth, and can be smoked, snorted, injected or swallowed.

The report found that one in 10 Australians have used methamphetamines in their lifetimes and almost two-thirds of those who take them regularly are dependent on them.

Rebecca McKetin, the main author of the report, warned that methamphetamines represent a far more serious drug problem than most Australians realise.

About 73,000 Australians are dependent on the drug, a figure which is more than double the number dependent on heroin, she said.

"The scale of methamphetamine use is in the same league as dependent heroin use during the peak of the heroin problem in the late 1990s," Dr McKetin said.

She said many users - particularly younger users who often encounter methamphetamines on the party scene - see the drugs as "recreational" because they can be smoked.

"People who take up smoking methamphetamine don't see themselves as being hard drug users, but it's actually a very addictive form of drugs use," Dr McKetin said.

She said the drugs have a much higher dependency liability than ecstasy or cannabis and more often lead to heroin use.

The report also found users of methamphetamines are 11 times more likely to experience psychosis than non-users.

Almost a quarter of the methamphetamine users interviewed for the report said they had experienced psychosis, including hallucinations and extreme paranoia, in the past year.

A quarter of those experienced aggressive and violent behaviour at the time they were psychotic, putting themselves and others at risk.

"This is actually a much more serious problem in regards to psychosis than cannabis use," Dr McKetin said.

"We need to urgently change the image of this drug ... we need to educate people that this is very a high risk drug."

Dr McKetin said more research needed to be done into treatment methods for methamphetamine addiction.

Australian Customs officers have seized roughly 10 times more methamphetamine than heroin in recent years.

The research from the NDARC, which is based at the University of NSW, was funded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund.

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hoptis said:

From News.com.au/AAP

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