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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/27/ticking-timebomb-why-ice-could-be-the-new-drug-scourge-of-the-outback
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| Ticking timebomb: why ice could be the new drug scourge of the outback | Ticking timebomb: why ice could be the new drug scourge of the outback |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| In the harsh summer heat, Billy Goat Hill is empty. There is no sign of teenage antisocial behaviour beyond a few smashed beer bottles. Alice Springs kids who normally frequent the notorious hangout spot and allegedly get high on sniffable solvents have stayed away since one of their own – a 12-year-old boy – died a little more than a month earlier. | In the harsh summer heat, Billy Goat Hill is empty. There is no sign of teenage antisocial behaviour beyond a few smashed beer bottles. Alice Springs kids who normally frequent the notorious hangout spot and allegedly get high on sniffable solvents have stayed away since one of their own – a 12-year-old boy – died a little more than a month earlier. |
| It is believed the boy had been sniffing deodorant, a common but crude method of getting a very shortlived but dangerous high. He was found unconscious at a nearby supermarket but was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later. | It is believed the boy had been sniffing deodorant, a common but crude method of getting a very shortlived but dangerous high. He was found unconscious at a nearby supermarket but was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later. |
| A tragic element of his story – and one that has been much reported simply because it is so illustrative – is that just across the road from Billy Goat Hill is a building which used to house a youth drop-in centre for children like him. You can see it from the top of the hill. | A tragic element of his story – and one that has been much reported simply because it is so illustrative – is that just across the road from Billy Goat Hill is a building which used to house a youth drop-in centre for children like him. You can see it from the top of the hill. |
| Related: Methamphetamine use the biggest drug problem facing Australian police – report | Related: Methamphetamine use the biggest drug problem facing Australian police – report |
| The Congress youth drop-in centre was one of many youth services in Alice Springs to close due to Northern Territory government funding cuts in recent years, and the result – more kids out in the streets, reported increases in sniffing – is exactly what social services say they warned would happen. | The Congress youth drop-in centre was one of many youth services in Alice Springs to close due to Northern Territory government funding cuts in recent years, and the result – more kids out in the streets, reported increases in sniffing – is exactly what social services say they warned would happen. |
| The concern over a resurgence in volatile substance abuse – sniffing – is compounded by fears of another emerging drug problem: crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice. | The concern over a resurgence in volatile substance abuse – sniffing – is compounded by fears of another emerging drug problem: crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice. |
| The drug is already a problem in towns like Alice Springs, Katherine and Darwin, but has not reached significantly into the remote Indigenous communities which use all these towns as hubs. | The drug is already a problem in towns like Alice Springs, Katherine and Darwin, but has not reached significantly into the remote Indigenous communities which use all these towns as hubs. |
| However, it’s considered only a matter of time before it does and social workers warn action must be taken before the “ticking timebomb” takes hold in the same way petrol sniffing did just a couple of decades ago. | However, it’s considered only a matter of time before it does and social workers warn action must be taken before the “ticking timebomb” takes hold in the same way petrol sniffing did just a couple of decades ago. |
| There are myriad issues relating to ice and its usage, consequences and impact on crime, violence and mental health, and there is no simple response. But the remote community frontline workers Guardian Australia interviews say if given the chance they could prevent an ice scourge in the region with the same methods they use to keep sniffing at bay. | There are myriad issues relating to ice and its usage, consequences and impact on crime, violence and mental health, and there is no simple response. But the remote community frontline workers Guardian Australia interviews say if given the chance they could prevent an ice scourge in the region with the same methods they use to keep sniffing at bay. |
| Related: 'Ice' gains in popularity despite overall methamphetamine use staying stable | Related: 'Ice' gains in popularity despite overall methamphetamine use staying stable |
| The tools and people who know how to use them are already available, but past and planned funding cuts are both decreasing the chance of this prevention and threatening to undo the work already done to address sniffing. | The tools and people who know how to use them are already available, but past and planned funding cuts are both decreasing the chance of this prevention and threatening to undo the work already done to address sniffing. |
| For the moment, remote communities are considered to have it better than bigger towns when it comes to youth services. Alice Springs, with a 34% Indigenous population, has become a case study for what happens when youth services are stripped back in places where there is not much else on offer for the demographic most at risk of substance abuse. | For the moment, remote communities are considered to have it better than bigger towns when it comes to youth services. Alice Springs, with a 34% Indigenous population, has become a case study for what happens when youth services are stripped back in places where there is not much else on offer for the demographic most at risk of substance abuse. |
| Children of the intervention | Children of the intervention |
| John Adams, general manager of Jesuit Social Services, says there are wider issues behind any rise in sniffing or drug use, which also inform the increasing number of Indigenous children in jail. In the Northern territory youth detention system, 97% of inmates are Indigenous despite only making up about 42% of the youth population. | John Adams, general manager of Jesuit Social Services, says there are wider issues behind any rise in sniffing or drug use, which also inform the increasing number of Indigenous children in jail. In the Northern territory youth detention system, 97% of inmates are Indigenous despite only making up about 42% of the youth population. |
| “If there’s a spike [in sniffing] it’s because maybe we’ve lost our way more broadly in how we engage young people,” he tells Guardian Australia. | “If there’s a spike [in sniffing] it’s because maybe we’ve lost our way more broadly in how we engage young people,” he tells Guardian Australia. |
| Related: Indigenous health: is the Intervention working? | Debra Jopson | Related: Indigenous health: is the Intervention working? | Debra Jopson |
| “I think what people miss is that these are the children of the intervention.” | “I think what people miss is that these are the children of the intervention.” |
| The Northern Territory intervention was a major and controversial legislative response to allegations of child abuse and neglect in Aboriginal communities and included sweeping changes to welfare, alcohol, law enforcement and land tenure measures. In order to implement it the federal government had to suspend the Racial Discrimination Act. | The Northern Territory intervention was a major and controversial legislative response to allegations of child abuse and neglect in Aboriginal communities and included sweeping changes to welfare, alcohol, law enforcement and land tenure measures. In order to implement it the federal government had to suspend the Racial Discrimination Act. |
| “These kids were 10 years old when the intervention rolled out,” Adams says. “I’m not saying the intervention caused it but we need to say there was the intervention and these kids grew up through it. What does that tell us about how painting a negative picture of Aboriginal people affects young people and how they see themselves?” | “These kids were 10 years old when the intervention rolled out,” Adams says. “I’m not saying the intervention caused it but we need to say there was the intervention and these kids grew up through it. What does that tell us about how painting a negative picture of Aboriginal people affects young people and how they see themselves?” |
| A recent Alice Springs youth survey by the NT council of social services found alcohol, access to drugs, bullying and violence were the largest “negative impacts facing youth” in the town. Among the top answers to what respondents would like to see in town were “more things to do in summer” and “a safer place to live.” | A recent Alice Springs youth survey by the NT council of social services found alcohol, access to drugs, bullying and violence were the largest “negative impacts facing youth” in the town. Among the top answers to what respondents would like to see in town were “more things to do in summer” and “a safer place to live.” |
| As well as the drop-in centre, other diversionary services like night time barbecues and sport activities, and the youth street outreach service (Ysos) which would engage with young people out in the streets at night and take them home, have also been scaled back or defunded by the Northern Territory government in recent years. | As well as the drop-in centre, other diversionary services like night time barbecues and sport activities, and the youth street outreach service (Ysos) which would engage with young people out in the streets at night and take them home, have also been scaled back or defunded by the Northern Territory government in recent years. |
| Richard Farrell, social services manager at Tangentyere council tells Guardian Australia reports of a “youth problem” are a bit of a beatup and kids on the street aren’t necessarily up to no good. | Richard Farrell, social services manager at Tangentyere council tells Guardian Australia reports of a “youth problem” are a bit of a beatup and kids on the street aren’t necessarily up to no good. |
| “Quite often these people are out walking the streets because it’s not safe to be at the town camp or it’s not safe to be at home,” says Farrell on the way to one of Alice Springs’ town camps, Hidden Valley. | “Quite often these people are out walking the streets because it’s not safe to be at the town camp or it’s not safe to be at home,” says Farrell on the way to one of Alice Springs’ town camps, Hidden Valley. |
| “This ‘get youth off our streets at night time’ idea ... to where? To what?” he says. | |
| On arrival at Hidden Valley we are met by a police roadblock checking cars for alcohol. Like many of the territory’s post-intervention Indigenous communities, Hidden Valley is a prescribed area, but alcohol still gets in. Farrell is recognised and our car is waved through and the streets are quiet, but at least one front lawn is littered with discarded tins. | |
| Funding cuts | Funding cuts |
| Farrell says the youth sector warned the NT government at the time of budget cuts that six to 18 months down the track they would see youths out in the streets again, “and that’s exactly what’s happened”. | Farrell says the youth sector warned the NT government at the time of budget cuts that six to 18 months down the track they would see youths out in the streets again, “and that’s exactly what’s happened”. |
| New funding to youth services recently announced by the NT chief minister, Adam Giles, won’t bring the level up to anywhere near what it was before cuts, Farrell adds. | New funding to youth services recently announced by the NT chief minister, Adam Giles, won’t bring the level up to anywhere near what it was before cuts, Farrell adds. |
| A few weeks after our visit, the Hidden Valley community was left horrified by the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl by a man residents said was an outsider. The news prompted Giles to establish a forum of government agencies and order an audit of all NGO and third party services working in the town camps, but he did not invite any of them to be a part of it. | A few weeks after our visit, the Hidden Valley community was left horrified by the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl by a man residents said was an outsider. The news prompted Giles to establish a forum of government agencies and order an audit of all NGO and third party services working in the town camps, but he did not invite any of them to be a part of it. |
| Related: No ice epidemic but rising purity is doing damage, say researchers | Related: No ice epidemic but rising purity is doing damage, say researchers |
| The NT minister for children, John Elferink, has consistently defended his government’s funding decisions, reasoning that the available resources meant it was a choice between paying for services like Ysos, or paying for child protection workers to be “on the front line protecting children who are raped, abused, neglected”. | The NT minister for children, John Elferink, has consistently defended his government’s funding decisions, reasoning that the available resources meant it was a choice between paying for services like Ysos, or paying for child protection workers to be “on the front line protecting children who are raped, abused, neglected”. |
| Blair McFarland, co-manager of operations at the central Australian youth link-up service (Caylus), says this either-or reasoning shows a lack of imagination. There are not enough resources to successfully work with individuals without addressing the environment they live in, he says, and children end up falling through the gaps because the welfare sector gets overwhelmed. | Blair McFarland, co-manager of operations at the central Australian youth link-up service (Caylus), says this either-or reasoning shows a lack of imagination. There are not enough resources to successfully work with individuals without addressing the environment they live in, he says, and children end up falling through the gaps because the welfare sector gets overwhelmed. |
| “It’s like having a cliff and at the top are all these children playing with balls and at the bottom they’re saying ‘oh but we’re going to put people down here with ambulances and when they fall off the cliff we can take them to hospital.’ Great, but what about a fence at the top to stop them falling off in the first place? All the money goes down there and all the kids keep falling.” | “It’s like having a cliff and at the top are all these children playing with balls and at the bottom they’re saying ‘oh but we’re going to put people down here with ambulances and when they fall off the cliff we can take them to hospital.’ Great, but what about a fence at the top to stop them falling off in the first place? All the money goes down there and all the kids keep falling.” |
| Caylus has been building these fences since its establishment in 2002, when it was funded by the Howard government as a response to the crisis of petrol sniffing in central Australian communities. Places like Papunya, 300km west of Alice Springs, reported that 30% of the town’s population were sniffing, and in Yuendumu workers estimated it was about half the teenage population. Suicide and self harm rates rose along with it. | Caylus has been building these fences since its establishment in 2002, when it was funded by the Howard government as a response to the crisis of petrol sniffing in central Australian communities. Places like Papunya, 300km west of Alice Springs, reported that 30% of the town’s population were sniffing, and in Yuendumu workers estimated it was about half the teenage population. Suicide and self harm rates rose along with it. |
| “When we started Caylus there were 500 sniffers out bush, and you can’t put them all in rehab. You can’t get caseworkers to all of them, you can’t go and individually work with them one by one and solve all of their problems so they no longer want to sniff,” says McFarland. | “When we started Caylus there were 500 sniffers out bush, and you can’t put them all in rehab. You can’t get caseworkers to all of them, you can’t go and individually work with them one by one and solve all of their problems so they no longer want to sniff,” says McFarland. |
| Caylus and its partner organisations employed deceptively simple strategies; reduce supply by introducing non-sniffable petrol across the region, and reduce demand by running youth diversionary programs. | Caylus and its partner organisations employed deceptively simple strategies; reduce supply by introducing non-sniffable petrol across the region, and reduce demand by running youth diversionary programs. |
| “As soon as there was something better for people to do, then they did that,” McFarland says. | “As soon as there was something better for people to do, then they did that,” McFarland says. |
| Thinly spread resources | Thinly spread resources |
| Simple strategies, but hard work. Nowhere is the tyranny of distance more apparent than in the central Australian desert. | Simple strategies, but hard work. Nowhere is the tyranny of distance more apparent than in the central Australian desert. |
| A map drawn on a whiteboard in the Caylus offices shows a multitude of initiatives it supports, scattered across communities throughout the NT and over all three state borders. Symbols pinpoint the location of particular resources: a rec hall in Ntaria, a computer room in Papunya, Caylus vehicles and youth workers. | A map drawn on a whiteboard in the Caylus offices shows a multitude of initiatives it supports, scattered across communities throughout the NT and over all three state borders. Symbols pinpoint the location of particular resources: a rec hall in Ntaria, a computer room in Papunya, Caylus vehicles and youth workers. |
| The programs are a drawcard to local kids and can also be used to reward or encourage them to go to school and stay out of trouble. Youth workers form relationships with the local kids and can act quickly if there is an outbreak of sniffing. | The programs are a drawcard to local kids and can also be used to reward or encourage them to go to school and stay out of trouble. Youth workers form relationships with the local kids and can act quickly if there is an outbreak of sniffing. |
| Before meeting Guardian Australia, McFarland had driven more than half a day to a community near the Queensland border, where a group of local youths had started sniffing petrol brought in by a chronic user. Caylus and the youth worker held a disco and the children were persuaded to talk to nurses for assessment, with one choosing to travel back with McFarland and go to Bush Mob – a voluntary rehab program. | |
| Related: We have to stop the creation of another Stolen Generation | Paddy Gibson | Related: We have to stop the creation of another Stolen Generation | Paddy Gibson |
| “Every day he says is just like every other day. Get up, have breakfast, there’s nothing. The temptation to sniff is just too strong for him,” says McFarland of the 16-year-old boy. | “Every day he says is just like every other day. Get up, have breakfast, there’s nothing. The temptation to sniff is just too strong for him,” says McFarland of the 16-year-old boy. |
| “But he really wants to get out … he realises that it’s a nowhere thing. He’s just going nowhere except downhill and so he’s voluntarily come to try and get off his addiction, try and work out there are some other options for an intelligent young man who wants to do things.” | “But he really wants to get out … he realises that it’s a nowhere thing. He’s just going nowhere except downhill and so he’s voluntarily come to try and get off his addiction, try and work out there are some other options for an intelligent young man who wants to do things.” |
| Caylus’s partner organisations in the communities are facing cuts to their services as well, and the fear is remote communities may see the return of large scale sniffing. | |
| Sniffing has been “pretty much eradicated in this region. There are little spotfires now but we have methods of dealing with it,” McFarland says. “As long as we keep turning that wheel it will be ok.” | Sniffing has been “pretty much eradicated in this region. There are little spotfires now but we have methods of dealing with it,” McFarland says. “As long as we keep turning that wheel it will be ok.” |
| And then there’s ice, what McFarland calls “a ticking timebomb for the region”. | And then there’s ice, what McFarland calls “a ticking timebomb for the region”. |
| The Australian crime commission recently reported on dramatic increases in methamphetamine use in Australia, and a 2011 survey showed it to be the third most popular drug of choice in Indigenous communities – although it did not offer a breakdown of ice compared with other forms of meth. | |
| Police response | Police response |
| Tony Fuller, acting commander of the NT police crime and specialist service command tells Guardian Australia drug seizures show most territory ice use is currently restricted to urban areas like Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs, and among non-Indigenous groups. They don’t have evidence of it reaching “significantly” into remote communities. | Tony Fuller, acting commander of the NT police crime and specialist service command tells Guardian Australia drug seizures show most territory ice use is currently restricted to urban areas like Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs, and among non-Indigenous groups. They don’t have evidence of it reaching “significantly” into remote communities. |
| “We’ve had reports intermittently of individuals that may have had it in remote communities but a lot of those people commute between [there and Darwin] regularly anyway,” says Fuller. | “We’ve had reports intermittently of individuals that may have had it in remote communities but a lot of those people commute between [there and Darwin] regularly anyway,” says Fuller. |
| Fuller says staying ahead of it is “not just a police or health issue, it’s a community issue”, and he shares fears of it taking hold. | |
| “We had the same issue historically with cannabis, It took four, five years to take off in the communities but once it got a foothold it’s really hard to stop. There certainly is a lot of prevention that could go on to hopefully minimise the impact it could have in the communities.” | “We had the same issue historically with cannabis, It took four, five years to take off in the communities but once it got a foothold it’s really hard to stop. There certainly is a lot of prevention that could go on to hopefully minimise the impact it could have in the communities.” |
| Ice’s relative absence from remote communities is not due to a lack of availability – police discovered 17 drug labs in the last year, including an Alice Springs meth lab in January. And it’s not about affordability – people already pay for cannabis, which can reach $200 a gram in some communities. | Ice’s relative absence from remote communities is not due to a lack of availability – police discovered 17 drug labs in the last year, including an Alice Springs meth lab in January. And it’s not about affordability – people already pay for cannabis, which can reach $200 a gram in some communities. |
| “It seems that people’s reasons for using ice are not that different from the reasons they use drugs like petrol and other volatiles,” Dr Sarah McLean, of the Indigenous health equity unit at the University of Melbourne, tells Guardian Australia. | “It seems that people’s reasons for using ice are not that different from the reasons they use drugs like petrol and other volatiles,” Dr Sarah McLean, of the Indigenous health equity unit at the University of Melbourne, tells Guardian Australia. |
| McLean says the relative newness of ice means it’s hard to know what programs will work, but anti-sniffing strategies should be tried, alongside education and stigma reduction strategies and with strong community consultation. | McLean says the relative newness of ice means it’s hard to know what programs will work, but anti-sniffing strategies should be tried, alongside education and stigma reduction strategies and with strong community consultation. |
| “We also learned from addressing petrol sniffing that it’s really important to have preventive programs in place, so that people have appealing alternatives to drug use. Providing recreational opportunities out of hours is particularly important.” | “We also learned from addressing petrol sniffing that it’s really important to have preventive programs in place, so that people have appealing alternatives to drug use. Providing recreational opportunities out of hours is particularly important.” |
| On 25 March the NT parliament established a select committee on “the prevalence, impacts and government responses” to ice use in the Northern Territory. | On 25 March the NT parliament established a select committee on “the prevalence, impacts and government responses” to ice use in the Northern Territory. |
| “It is our great fear that not only will it spread from urban locations in the territory, but also to remote locations where it is even harder to manage,” Giles said. | “It is our great fear that not only will it spread from urban locations in the territory, but also to remote locations where it is even harder to manage,” Giles said. |
| The opposition supported the committee but also argued for an interagency taskforce and the establishment of an ice ward at Darwin hospital. | |
| “The state has already got a strong legislative base with policemen and sniffer dogs for all those illegal substances,” McFarland says. “The state is doing supply reduction on that but where is the demand reduction? That’s the drum we keep beating to try and divert some of the resources.” | “The state has already got a strong legislative base with policemen and sniffer dogs for all those illegal substances,” McFarland says. “The state is doing supply reduction on that but where is the demand reduction? That’s the drum we keep beating to try and divert some of the resources.” |
| He returns to the cliff analogy. “All we can do is what we’re already doing which is the diversionary activities – they work against any drug. The fence at the top of the cliff will stop kids who are playing with softballs, basketballs, or soccer balls, you know what I mean?” | He returns to the cliff analogy. “All we can do is what we’re already doing which is the diversionary activities – they work against any drug. The fence at the top of the cliff will stop kids who are playing with softballs, basketballs, or soccer balls, you know what I mean?” |