THE devastating impact of the drug ice in Ballarat will be heard as part of a state inquiry aimed at lifting the lid on its effect on regional centres.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Counselling services have welcomed news that the open forum into the drug will come to Ballarat for the first time on Monday, November 18.
The hearing, which is touring regional Victoria and has already been held in Bendigo and Geelong, is headed by Western Victoria MP Simon Ramsay.
It will hear from a number of key community groups including police, paramedics, drug counselling services and hospitals.
Drug counsellors say the growth in use of the drug, also known as crystal methamphetamine, is having a huge impact on Ballarat, but the full extent of the damage is not yet fully known.
Ballarat UnitingCare drug and alcohol program manager Peter Cranage said ice was still considered a relatively new drug in Ballarat.
Ice first hit Ballarat streets in the early 2000s and is generally considered to have replaced heroin as the most harmful drug of dependence.
However Mr Cranage said knowledge of the drug and its consequences remained relatively unknown.
“With lack of knowledge comes fear,” Mr Cranage said.
“We’ve seen the usage increase dramatically in Ballarat recently.
“There is still a lot to learn about the impact, which is why it’s good to have these forums and bring all the people together to learn how we can best tackle it.”
Ballarat Community Health team leader Claire Ryan said drug users were often unaware of the impact the drug was having on their health, both mentally and physically.
Ms Ryan said although it was good the government was putting such a focus on the drug, it needed to be coupled with more focus on other drugs, particularly alcohol.
“People move from recreational use to dependence extremely quickly, anybody can get caught out with it,” Ms Ryan said.
“At the same time, there are a lot of other drugs that cause concern. There have always been trends with drugs that have been used all throughout history.”
Previous hearings in Geelong and Bendigo have shown the drug is becoming more widespread in regional Victoria, affecting from all walks of life.
There have also been indications the increase in the drug’s use has been so fast that there is yet to be a proper understanding of the effects.
Mr Ramsay said there had already been a lot of valuable input in other regional cities and he looked forward to “shedding more light” on the issue from a Ballarat perspective.
patrick.nolan@fairfaxmedia.com.au
