A national survey of 1053 Australians asked about their knowledge and attitudes towards ice (crystalline methamphetamine) and other illicit drugs. These are 7 worrying findings:
- 63% of people in regional areas believe people addicted to ice are a danger to the community compared with 54% in cities
- 21% of people surveyed say they have witnessed first-hand the destruction wrought by ice on their communities
- 50% of people say ice and amphetamines are not hard to access and 13% have been offered them (up from 10% last year)
- 6.7% have tried ice and amphetamines (up from 4.9% last year) and 2.5% are currently using (up from 0.9% last year)
- 7% of people have tried ice or amphetamines compared with 3% who have tried heroin
- 70% say ice addicts belong in rehab, 18% say in jail, 5% ‘other’ and 7% say ‘I don’t really care’
- More Australians this year, compared with last year, believe more dollars should go to rehabilitation than to law enforcement or education.