The rural town overrun by meth: Ice addicts who 'look like they've been in a concentration camp' are so desperate to get clean they are turning to petty crimes so they can get locked up and detox
- Moree has the highest amount of amphetamine use and possession in the state
- Local police say rates of family violence has seen a spike in recent years
- Some patients have lost more than 30kg and look 'skeletal and malnourished'
Ice addicts from a rural town are so desperate to get off the drug they are committing petty crimes in order to get locked up and detox.
The small town of Moree in the north of New South Wales is home to the highest amount of amphetamine use and possession in the state, the Daily Telegraph reported.
'I have seen patients who have committed petty crimes in order to get into custody to detox, to get into rehab,' police cells nurse Kerry Cassells said in a statement at the special commission of inquiry into ice held in Sydney on Tuesday.
'Upon entry into the cells, some patients look like they've been in a concentration camp - they are skeletal and malnourished'.
The small town of Moree in the state's north is home to the highest amount of amphetamine use and possession in the state
A special commission of inquiry into ice held in Sydney on Tuesday heard from a Moree nurse that said patients have committed petty crimes in order to get into custody to detox
Some patients have lost more than 30kg from abusing ice, and have been taken to correctional facilities.
Ms Cassells said that while being locked up helps patients physically and mentally, the lack of support services after they are released means many relapse.
When the nurse first started working in Moree police cells, she said alcohol and cannabis were rife, but it has now shifted to oxycodones.
Ms Cassells said that in the last seven or eight years, people's drug of choice has been predominantly ice.
Ice-addicted Moree residents commit domestic violence crimes, malicious property damage, public disturbances and brawls - all brought on while under the influence.
The Moree area became more saturated with ice five years ago, and it started becoming more readily available over the past two years, the commission heard last month.
Children as young as nine are also getting their hands on the deadly drug in the New England North West region.
Centacare executive manager Cigdem Watson, who oversees the Personal Helpers and Mentors Program and the Youth Drug and Alcohol Service, told the commission they hope to service young people before they start problematic drug use.
'In one week in Armidale alone, we had nine referrals come through for young people; a nine-year-old was one,' she said, the Moree Champion reported.
Drug habits passed down between different generations of a family is also a major problem in the region, particularly among the indigenous community.
Ms Watson said kids used to be taken to live with their grandparents if their parents were using drugs, but now grandparents are also addicted.
'When FACS [Family and Community Services] get involved, they used to place children with their grandparents, but now [the grandparents] are using it too, so it's becoming really difficult,' she said.
'They're not really safe, there's no safe place for them. Their home is not safe.'
Moree Police Commander Superintendent Scott Tanner said rates of family violence in the town of just 7,000 residents has seen a spike in recent years.
'Nearly all the defendants highlighted in their reasoning to the court for their behaviour was the overuse of amphetamine-type stimulants at the time,' he said.
The Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug 'Ice' is looking into six regional locations as part of public hearings.
Figures show possession and/or use of ice in the Moree Plains LGA is almost three times the NSW average.
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For every 100,000 people, around 267 use or possess the drug, compared to the state average of 92.
Ice continues to wreak havoc across the country, with Finch Hatton – a sleepy town in the Mackay Region – experiencing a 350 per cent spike in crime rates in the past six years.
The fatal drug is also tearing apart regional South Australian towns like the Eyre Peninsula, the Riverland, Barossa Valley and Limestone Coast.
Earlier this year it was revealed ice is cheaper than alcohol and is purer than ever before, making it more potent and deadly for communities.
Moree police say rates of family violence in the town of just 7,000 residents has seen a spike in recent years
'In 2019, we're hearing it's actually cheaper to buy ice than it is to buy alcohol, with a purity ranging from at least 50 per cent up to 70 and 80 per cent,' Law Society of SA Co-chair Craig Caldicott said.
Mr Caldicott said the link between ice and violent crime was different to other drugs like heroin because the effects of ice are unpredictable.
Less than 300km away from Moree, a home in Tamworth was raided in June, where police found an 'ice castle' with 1.5kg of ice, large quantities of heroin, fentanyl patches and cannabis.
Across Australia drug users are consuming a staggering 9.8 tonnes of methamphetamine.
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