Driving home last night, I heard a report on Triple J’s Hack program that absolutely floored me.
The current affairs program recently covered the issue of ice abuse in regional Australia; and it was this report that uncovered another disturbing trend among young female and male users of the drug.
Listeners told the program that the drug crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, isn’t just being used to get high, it’s also being used to lose weight.
“You’re seeing girls who used to be a bit chubby and now they’re 10 kilos, 15 kilos less within a year… you’ve got the added addiction of the weight loss and then you’ve got the addiction of the most dangerous drug in the world.” – James, Gippsland
One caller, a high school teacher (who wanted to remain anonymous) in regional Australia, told Hack she’s seeing students turn to ice to solve negative body image problems.
“its almost a beginners level drug nowadays” – disturbing stuff on @triplejHack about the use of drug ice in regional Australia.
— Emily hilton (@emilyhilton) February 20, 2014
Hack reporter Sarah McVeigh also spoke to Jess* (not her real name), who first tried ice two years ago when a friend suggested she try it to lose weight.
From the Hack transcript:
‘At the time she was 70kgs and says she had tried to slim down by going to the gym and taking diet pills, but she wasn’t getting results.
“I think every girl has pressure from the media,” she says.
When a friend suggested she try ice to lose weight, she agreed.
“It was basically like breathing in clouds. It was ecstatic, it was euphoric. It’s probably the best I’ve ever felt in my life.
“I would go for five or six days and then sleep for two days and smoke weed. I ended up losing about 10 kilos,” she says.
“It was scary because it worked.”’
After six months of heavy use Jess quit ice and moved from Adelaide to Melbourne.At first the weight she lost stayed off, but eventually she gained it back.Jess says she regrets ever having tried ice.“I wish that I never took that first puff…it’s always going to be in the back of my mind for the rest of my life,” she says.’
As one listener Max Thompson tweeted, “Is it really worth using ice to lose weight when you could also lose your mind, or your life?”
Common side effects associated with taking ice include memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior and potential heart and brain damage.
There’s also the added glamour of body sores (from users picking at their skin), the feeling that bugs are crawling on you, psychosis and hallucinations. These before and after photos of drug users give a good indication of just how addiction can affect lives.
@triplejHack I know of a lot of people who started off taking drugs at clubs, then turned to it for weight purposes.
— Trevor Macleod (@ttmac_) February 24, 2014
Now if you, like us, think this is quite a disturbing trend, know that you’re not alone. Mamamia spoke to Christine Morgan, CEO of The Butterfly Foundation about this news. Here’s what she had to say:
The Butterfly Foundation’s Christine Morgan.“This is indicative that negative body image and the compulsion to be thin drives too many people to engage in highly dangerous behaviour.
“Accepting our bodies and engaging in self care, rather than self hatred, enables us to grab hold of life and live it, rather than hide from it.”
Is ice or any other drug an issue in your community?
If this post brings up any issues for you, please contact The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673).
Top Comments
What is it just now people reconized the jenny meth program. Man this behavior has being going on since the cake mix days. Atleast 25yrs ago. And now they make this like its the latest epidemic. Not being going for ages. And in plenty of sports..... r people that nieve surely not.... if so the resurch on meth and ice use is so out of date. And alot of the information is so misleading. But id suggest to stay away from all steet drugs. As most drugs in adelaide are heavily cut now. Due a growing shortage but the drug is so inconsistent. Every time u have more u putting yourself at risk of chemical reactions in your body. Being extreamly dangerous. These new drugs are 10 times more potent now. And in noticing devastating long turm affects. And the gang mentality making it almost impossible for our teens to escape this problem. There r children as young as 8yr old in elizabeth south smoking ice. Please b aware if your 8yr old has strange behavior look into it. Because this addictive drug doesnt discriminate who it grabs hold. Not only that older children have been putting ice in there cigarettes and sharing lace cigarettes with your child. Your child will become addicted without evan knowing. Its almost that bad that kids will need drug screening at primary school. To ensure that the school doesnt have this problem. All public school in the northern suburbs have this going on. And primary schools. Dealers are becoming increasingly aggressive pushing there products. As the children under 12yrs old cant be touched by the police due to legislation. Ive reported such incidents. But people are deluded about what is going on. Dont trust the teachers or the school to recognize this problem. As most schools dont evan no this is going on. THEY HAVE A ATTITUDE GLAD OUR SCHOOL DOESNT HAVE THIS PROBLEM. that the first mistake underestimating the extent of this problem. Schools need to open there eyes. There r children taking ice with there so called parents sending there kids with packs of smokes pot ice. To gather the childrens lunch money. Parents please take the time to prepare lunch. Dont give your children cash. Its to dangerous. Speak up if u notice any of this behavior. Evan with all the big fences and security measures at schools these days. The children are getting away with more as teachers have slackened of. Because of the false sence of security that big fences and camers make a difference. It doesnt the children r just becoming more cunning. And aware of the surroundings and where they can get away with drug taking. School toilets and ice doesnt give of much of a smell like smoke does. Plus its illegal and controversial to have cameras filming our children in toilets. Because the cameras can get hacked be pedophiles. Where in the digital world children r doing and seeing way ti much. Leaving young minds under extream high levels of stress. Before they evan stsrt class. Being pretty being what cool is at the time. Atm anything is cool to the children. As so many children have smart phone. And there parents dont no how to use the to put proper filtering on the phones. Please dont overwork. Spend 5 minutes a day talking to your children about there days. I cant stress enough how important it is for our children to talk openly about there days. As strange as they can get sometimes. But its your only chance to see the problem arising. And tell your child and show your children how u feel. Kids r smarter these days at a much earlier age. So they will experiment at an earlier age than we did. Much earlier:-( to early there children till about 6 if that. My daughter told me she had a knife to her stomach at her mums and she thought abount pushing it in. My daughter was 6 at the time. Im so glad she told me and she is still her with us today. DONT THINK THIS WONT BE YOUR CHILD. Because it will b your child with the biggest problem. Life is so demanding on children in today life. We think there lucky to have all this technology. We couldn't be more stupid to actually believe that is lucky. Is just one more added pressure to the next generation. As a loving father im terrified about my daughters future. Because I actually notice whats going on around me. And it terrifies me to notice how bad things have become. And will only get worse before it gets better. so if u think things are bad now. U have no idea. Australian people r going to be hit very hard and very soon. Our dollar is just going to crumble. we get payed to much compared to other countries. Everything is built overseas. Its almost no longer cost affective to make anything in australia. We as australian people r going to face very difficult situations in the very near future. im worried because Abbott is controlling our future. And I dont feel tony Abbott has any idea really whats going on. Or how to set up our future with a competitive work solution. We need to earn less pay les taxes. And get the cost of living down. We had it to good for way to long. We forgot how to struggle the australian people. Australian people think a train being 5 mins late is devastating. 5 mintus the same time u spend rumaging though your bag to find your phone cheque your messages. And replied back thats 5 minutes. So why do I hear so many people complaining about pathetic stuff like that on the news. What r we going to have a riot next time there is a train strike. People need to harden up. And smarten up fast. Grrrrrrr
In this world where nothing ever comes easy, including losing weight, some would really be tempted to try whatever means they could. This drug is not worth taking the risk.