Parole officers say 80 per cent of people committing serious offences in NSW are ice users.

One officer, who asked not to be named, said that figure could be higher in regional areas where the drug was said to be overtaking alcohol as the biggest problem facing some communities.

‘‘It’s easy looking from outside at these people and instantly thinking ‘losers’ but most have a story to tell,’’ an officer told the Mercury. ‘‘An offender I interviewed told how his father was president of the local motorcycle club.

‘‘When he was five he sat with them while they were ‘racking’ their pills. His father told him to ‘piss off while men do what men do’. 

‘‘He went outside and came back to tell his dad something, and his father said ‘I told you if you sit with men you do as men do’.

‘‘He gave him half a pill. He remembers the men all laughing. He was sick for days. He is a heavy ice user now. Probably an addict.’’

The officer said a lot of users were introduced to ice as young as 12 or 13 by an older brother or cousin.

‘‘The girls, they are introduced to it by the same people, at the same age, for sex,’’ he said.

‘‘They all have their story; some say their parole officer is the first person who has ever given a shit whether they were addicts or not.’’ 

The NSW Police Force is also taking the prevalence of the drug seriously, going after drugged and drunk drivers this Easter long weekend.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner John Hartley said ice was of great concern, accounting for nearly 60per cent of all drug-driver-related arrests.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said one in 17 of all drivers pulled over tested positive for methamphetamine.

The rise of the drug and its devastating effects can be seen daily in courtrooms throughout the state.

Just last week, Colin Maxwell Farrow was sentenced to 22 years’ jail for stabbing his drug dealer to death in her Wollongong unit almost two years ago.

Police found Linda Stevens’ body, naked, bound and gagged, in the boot of her car in bushland at Corrimal on April 11, 2013.

The court found Farrow was in a drug-induced psychosis when he carried out the killing with the judge noting ‘‘every judge is aware of the horrific effects of ice on its users and the risks to society by its distribution’’.

Erratic and aggressive ice users were posing such a safety risk to paramedics that they would often ‘‘stand down’’ until police arrived, an Illawarra ambulance chief says.

‘‘The issue with ice is that the patients can quite often be aggressive and agitated and it’s not just in the immediate time since they used the drug, it can go on for three days,’’ said Matt Sterling, duty operations manager for the Illawarra and South West sector.

‘‘When we have to confront these patients, a large percentage of paramedics will stand down until police arrive on scene. Most of the time, the danger is judged by the paramedic on arrival,’’ he said.

‘‘This erratic behaviour for a prolonged period of time is one of the main dangers paramedics face.

‘‘It can be a nightmare for not just the paramedics but also the families of the user.’’

Inspector Sterling said:  ‘‘You just have to wait it out, so patients often need to be chemically restrained or sedated just to approach them.

‘‘But if they are already in an agitated state, it’s not safe to do so.

‘‘We have mechanical restraint devices that are less invasive than handcuffs but again, we can’t use them if the patient is not co-operating.

‘‘Quite often that means police will have to help, it can be a two-person job.’’

The state’s top cop said this week that the ice epidemic could bring Australia to its knees and police would be powerless to prevent it unless the whole community joined the fight.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said crystal meth presented a threat to police and the public.

Not only was it highly addictive but its lethal cocktail of symptoms made users especially dangerous.  His comments follow a doubling of ice use in recent years. 

“This monster could steal everything we as Australians cherish so very much and it could be taken from right under our noses,’’ Mr Scipione said. “Methamphetamine sets off a dangerous combination of euphoria, confidence, energy and strength, coupled with anxiety, paranoia and severe panic attacks.’’

An Illawarra emergency department nurse has seen her colleagues punched, kicked and spat on by patients under the influence of ice.

The nurse, who has herself had to jump back to avoid assault on a number of occasions, said in the past couple of years the number of people presenting to her hospital’s ED in an ice-fuelled psychosis had escalated.

‘‘We’re now faced with someone affected by ice on almost every shift,’’ she said.

‘‘Most of the time they are in a super elevated state and aggressive, and I’ve seen them punch, kick and spit on nurses and security guards.

‘‘Because their emotions are so heightened, they can exhibit a wide range of emotions – while most are angry, others can be crying hysterically and some are extremely happy and wanting to love and hug you.’’

The nurse said most were escorted into the ED by police, handcuffed and with restraints around their legs. Once ED staff took over, they were put into hospital restraints and, if necessary, chemically restrained.

‘‘The biggest issue is gaining IV access – if they have good veins we can get a cannula in quickly and sedate them,’’ she said. ‘‘If they are injectable drug users, their veins are not as good, which makes it a bit more difficult.

‘‘Restraints, either physical or chemical, are used to maintain the safety of staff and other patients, as well as their own safety as many can harm themselves.

‘‘While restrained, they are constantly monitored to ensure their health is not compromised in any way.’’

The nurse said ice-affected patients were the hardest to deal with as they had a ‘‘tangential thought process’’ – where they jumped from one tangent to another.

Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District drug and alcohol service director David Reid said the number of clients being treated for methamphetamine use had increased in the past five years.

However, Mr Reid said there was no ‘‘one-size-fits-all’’ approach to treatment and the district’s services and programs catered for a range of substances.

‘‘While ice is currently under the spotlight, we should remember that drug dependency is a much broader issue, which is extremely varied and more complex,’’ he said.

‘‘In [the district] more clients are being treated for methamphetamine use than five years ago, however, the main area of treatment is for alcohol misuse which accounts for around 60per cent of all referrals to the drug and alcohol service.’’ 

Mr Reid said it was important to acknowledge the families and carers of people with drug dependencies, such as ice addiction.

Services available include assessment and treatment planning; psychosocial interventions including counselling; therapeutic groups as well as management of withdrawal from a range of substances.

For more information, call the Drug and Alcohol Helpline on 1300652226.

A recovering ice addict has some sobering advice for people playing with the devil.

‘‘It won’t fix your sadness or take away your suffering. If you try to give it up and you relapse, just try again, always keep trying, you can get there.’’

Craig*, 43, who has been clean for four months and 24 days, said each attempt  – and he’s had 11 – made him a little bit smarter. 

‘‘Relapse doesn’t make you a failure,’’ he said.

Boredom led the former pro-surfer to ice – he was missing the excitement and adrenalin rush he got from competitive sport.

‘‘I’d been in recovery from heroin for about eight or nine years, my surfing career had finished and I just got bored with my ordinary life,’’ he said. ‘‘I was very scared of heroin and when I tried ice at first I didn’t even like it.

‘‘But next thing I knew, I was buying large quantities and selling it.’’

Craig’s addiction to heroin started when he was behind bars, jailed for using a baseball bat to nearly bash a man to death.

‘‘I did the wrong thing, I was charged with grievous bodily harm, and I went to jail for three years and 10 months,’’ he said.

‘‘My cell mate was one of the biggest dealers in Sydney, we became good friends.

‘‘I’d been his room mate for six months and always said no; then for some reason on this day I said yes.

‘‘Taking away the ocean was like taking away my spirit – that’s what was so hard for me in there; once I took heroin, the time in jail went by very quickly.’’

Craig said ice and heroin, both ‘‘the devils’’, were an escape from his boredom, loneliness and sadness.

‘‘I used ice to suppress bad feelings,’’ he said.

‘‘I had a dysfunctional upbringing, a lot of sadness in my heart and I took it just to cover, to suppress. That’s what you will find most people do.’’

This time, a reality check from his mother sent him cold turkey.

‘‘I’ve been in deeper, darker holes physically but it was when my mum told me I was depressing, miserable and she didn’t want to speak to me – that hit me the hardest.’’

Craig said he had been in rehab several times and each time learnt skills and techniques to help himself stay clean.

‘‘I see ice addicts now and I feel sad,’’ he said.

‘‘Before, that would have been a trigger.

‘‘I’d watch them mucking up in a service station or somewhere and think that looks good I want to go and get on.

‘‘Now I see it looks horrible, now that I can see properly.

‘‘It is a disease and I just wish there was some way they would see the light. I feel sorry for them... I just want people to know that if they are at that stage of their addiction [and] they want to give up then, please, always keep trying.’’

(*surname omitted)

The Illawarra is one of three regions in NSW to get a new stimulant treatment centre to target ice addiction.

Kiama MP and parliamentary secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward said the centres would be established as part of the Baird government’s comprehensive plan to fight the drug.

Mr Ward said the measures, announced last month, included a police response to target ice dealers, manufacturers and drug drivers.

‘‘We need to ensure police have the powers they need to crack down on ice,’’ he said.

‘‘To help them do that, under the plan the government will halve the threshold required to charge dealers with possessing ice for supply (from one kilogram to 500grams).

‘‘Police will also have new powers to confiscate the assets of serious criminals including drug dealers.

‘‘There will also be mandatory statewide online recording of the sale of pseudoephedrine (used to make ice) in pharmacies.’’

Mr Ward said the package would also triple the number of roadside drug tests to almost 100,000 a year by 2016-17.

The package also includes a health response to address the needs of users and addicts. This includes the investment in three new stimulant treatment programs in the Illawarra, Mid North

 Coast and western Sydney regions. The clinics will run in tandem with two existing facilities in Newcastle and at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital – which has a waiting list of more than 100 people.

‘‘This region, like many areas in regional NSW, has very alarming numbers of ice addictions and ice-related crime,’’ Mr Ward said.

‘‘We have campaigned for, and received, one of the new treatment centres which will give people who are addicted to ice medical support as well as the other counselling and services they require in order to break the habit.

‘‘The location within the Illawarra has not yet been determined.’’

Community education was another important part of the package.

■ Ice is the purest form of methamphetamine available in Australia.

■ It usually looks like colourless to white crystals, or a coarse crystal-like powder. It can also appear in other colours. Also called crystal, crystal meth, meth or shabu.

■ Ice is usually smoked or injected, entering the brain quickly and making it highly addictive.

■ Effects include increased alertness, repetitive itching and scratching, enlarged pupils, teeth grinding,  sweating, fast heart rate and breathing, reduced appetite. 

■ Overdose can cause racing heartbeat and chest pain, breathing problems, fits, extreme agitation, confusion,  severe headache, stroke, heart attack and death.

■ For help:  Alcohol and Drug Information Service (ADIS) on 0293618000 or toll free on 1800422599.

Sources: NSW Health and Australian Drug Foundation