COMMUNITIES need to work together to come up with solutions to curb the impact of ice, a drug and alcohol worker says.
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Talking at the Country Women's Association state conference in Bendigo on Friday, the Penington Institute's Crios O'Mahoney said crystal methamphetamines was a whole community issue.
"There's a lot of information on TV. Some of it's accurate information, some of it is inaccurate information and some of it is really, really scary," Mr O'Mahoney said.
"Ice can be a scary drug. We need to work as a community because ice is a community problem. Like all drug use we can't just get the police to deal with it or the drug or alcohol workers."
Mr O'Mahoney said approaches to dealing with the drug should be accurate and evidence-based, with the focus taken off scare tactics.
"Lots of the stuff that has been shown on the TV recently is really, really counter-productive," he said.
"We actually think a lot of this stuff can actually have a negative impact on what we are trying to do. It can almost scare people away from looking for help.
"The truth about ice is bad enough. We need to stick to the truth. Be honest to people about what's happening.
"If we lose our credibility with people, especially young people, by saying things they don't believe because we can't back them up with fact then they won't believe the other things we tell them.
"But they might be the one that lands in trouble, they might be the one that if they start injecting can end up with hepatitis, they might be the one that ends up being involved in violence and crime and all the other things associated with the drug."
Mr O'Mahoney said the amount of people using the powdered form of methamphetamines speed had decreased while the use of ice had increased. He said people were using more frequently and the purity of the drug had increased and was about four times stronger than five years ago.
He said there was a role for all facets of the community in addressing the problem.
"There is a role for individuals, for schools, sporting clubs. There is a role for the chamber of commerce, the CWA - there are roles for everyone in the community," Mr O'Mahoney said.