By Nicole Lee, Flinders University
Ice is the worst drug scourge Australia has faced. It is far more potent, far more dangerous, and far more addictive than any other illegal drug. – Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Liberal Party of Australia email to subscribers, August 13, 2015.
“Ice” is the crystalline form of methamphetamine. The other main forms of methamphetamine are “speed” (a powder) and “base” (a paste). They all have the same chemical structure but differ in potency and purity, with ice typically three to four times stronger than speed but the purity of all forms depends on how it is made.
It is worth testing the Prime Minister’s comments, made as he announced new funding for the Australian Crime Commission to tackle ice, against the evidence.
Is it the worst drug scourge Australia has faced?
Mr Abbott’s office did not respond to requests for data to support his statement.
Terms like “worst” and “scourge” are subjective and not checkable, so it is not possible to test this part of the statement against a data set.
But we do know that ice is not the most widely used illicit drug and the percentage of the population using has not increased over at least the last decade. However, harms have increased substantially among people already using.
According to the latest population statistics, 2.1% of the population reported using methamphetamine in the 12 months prior to the survey, which was conducted in 2013. This includes people who have used once in a year and those who use every day. This statistic has remained stable for at least the last 10 years, so there does not appear to be a huge increase in new users.
As a comparison, just over 10% of the population report using cannabis in the last year, 4.7% pharmaceuticals (for non-medical purposes), 2.5% ecstasy (MDMA) and 2.1% cocaine.
Top Comments
This is ridiculous. The lancet paper is from 2007. The purity of ice has increased tenfold. The majority of your stats are methamphetamine based, whilst the issue here is specifically the crystalline form. There's a big difference between powder and ice.
This article seems to focus on harm to the user.
What of harm to those around them?
Talking to a friend who is in the police force, he would rather deal with a Herron addict than ice addict any day. He tells me that ice users are far more violent, more likely to have delusions and are far harder to get under control and far harder to get safley into a hospital.
From his perspective, ice is a far worse drug than anything else he has to deal with, not because of its addictive was, or potential of overdose, but because of the way it causes the user to behave and the danger many users pose to those around them.