THE WOMEN on the FRONTLINE of ICE

Crystal methamphetamine is ravaging parts of the country and destroying families and communities. Over a million Australians have tried it – and the epidemic is spreading.* Stephen Brooks speaks to three women fighting the ice crisis

THE MUM ON A MISSION

Based in Narooma on NSW’s South Coast, Michelle Preston co-founded the group ICE – Turning Family Pain Into Power to support the families of addicts. Her son Tysyn, 28, has been addicted to ice for a decade.

I can still remember the day when I thought I was doing a regular shop at the supermarket. My son Tysyn, who was 25, had texted me a few things, which I popped in the trolley. I looked at the list and thought, “Why does he need Drano, bleach, iodine and oven cleaner?”

It turned out I had sourced the ingredients for him to cook up a fresh batch of ice. With a gas cooker and a few glass dishes he was set.

He first tried ice at age 19 and has been addicted ever since. Ice is a drug like nothing we’ve ever seen – the impact can happen so fast. Other drugs take a lot longer for people to lose their way. It produces a sense of euphoria and the cravings are so strong that people quickly find they go from using once a week to every day. People fool themselves about how hard it hits them.

There was a Breaking Bad-type scenario outside our town a couple of years ago, where manufacturers set up nearby and flooded the town. Once people were hooked they could keep selling month after month. It is just insidious the way it gets into a town. Ice is being trafficked right under people’s noses and they don’t even realise it.

Tysyn is at home right now. He was released from a psychiatric unit two days ago but the damage has been done. He has schizophrenia, which is genetic, and has a cyst on his brain from his drug use.

Him being home really affects my mental health, but I am trying to work on not being triggered as easily as I have been in the past.