Ice use has drug rehab workers wishing for a return to heroin

"People call ice [methamphetamine] the new heroin, but the problem is it's much more dangerous," Watershed chief executive Will Temple said.

"It impacts much more on behaviour and mood swings, a client could turn on a staff member very quickly. It's terrible to say but I could almost say bring back heroin."

The veteran drug and alcohol counsellor with a track record of success said methamphetamine users suffered a longer and harder detox process than clients using other drugs.

"The problem with ice is it takes 14 days to return to any sort of normalcy but the ongoing mental effects can take the detox process up to 18 months," he said.

"In comparison, heroin clients take seven days."

It was during the detox process that clients were the most volatile and threatening to staff due to what Mr Temple called a "dopamine overload".

"It's just a nasty drug and because it's a stimulant, it causes sleep deprivation. We've had people that haven't slept for three days straight," he said. "It also does massive damage to the brain by making it release an overload of dopamine and when it stops, the brain can't handle it."

The overload impaired the brain's ability to regulate moods and, more importantly, to make decisions.

"That's the problem. It's so difficult to start treating someone who can't make a decision, they don't even know if they want to be there."

Despite having a zero tolerance policy to violence, Mr Temple said rehab staff were still affected by the unpredictable mood swings and hallucinations caused by meth.

"The result is it does impact on staff, police, paramedics, people on the street and the emergency department staff who are often trying to save their lives."

Mr Temple had noticed an increase in meth addiction in the Illawarra with older drug users more likely to become victims to the ice epidemic sweeping regional Australia.

"It's not necessarily young people becoming addicts. A lot are between 30-40 who are switching from other drugs because ice is easier and cheaper to get," he said.

According to Wollongong drug researcher Associate Professor Lynne Magor-Blatch, regional and rural areas are more susceptible to ice because it can be made in backyard labs. Unlike other drugs, methamphetamine doesn't need to be imported, with precursor ingredients available domestically.

"One of the things that has been most alarming for people has been the increase in country and regional towns rather than in cities. That says something about distribution links and the availability of the precursors," she said this year.

Mr Temple said he was aware of different "brands" with "chefs" giving their product names in a marketing ploy copied from TV.

"It's just like Breaking Bad, they gave their ice batches different names so if people like it they keep asking for that one brand name if you like," he said.