Impacts-of-methamphetamine-in-Victoria-Community-Assessment-Penington-Institute

Many people noted that methamphetamine use was high in young people. Crystal methamphetaminewas now seen as a party drug among many young people, and young people would use what wasavailable to them at the time within their social network.“It’s still seen as recreational... it’s a party drug” (Youth Worker, Hume region)“It seems like I have a percentage of clients who are taking [methamphetamine] to party. Mostly onthe weekend, they’d be taking GHB, ice, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine, and that would be in the contextof going out and partying.”Another worker believed their young clients found methamphetamine as socially acceptable ascannabis:“In their heads it’s the same as pot, ‘it’s casual, it makes me feel better, I don’t think about myproblems’. It’s hard to get kids to acknowledge it as a problem ... it’s looked at as cool, a quick cheaphigh” (Youth Worker.)An ambulance officer noted that:“I’d hate to think that there is a level of normalisation now... but there is a different party mode now.[Young people] don’t go out till late, and it’s very expensive to go out... I could see that people wouldstay at home till late, then crank up on a bit of meth, then go out.”A youth AOD worker estimated that around 95 per cent of his service’s young clients had a history ofphysical or sexual abuse. Another youth worker noted the use was potentially linked to the history ofdisadvantage and trauma:“They’re self medicating I would say”Another worker, whose clients were young people in out-of-home care, reported:“I have 20 clients, and I can honestly say probably 14 of them have a history with it, and currentlyuse”Of these clients with a history of vulnerability or trauma, client perceptions of problematic use varied.A Hume youth worker noted:“Do they identify it as a problem? Not necessarily. But they do disclose they use regularly”.Those working with young people in the out-of-home care sector, and youth homelessness programsnoted that there was substantial use in their client groups. In some instances, particularly withinresidential units, younger residents were being exposed to methamphetamine by older residents.“We can probably track the younger age groups [through] residential housing... they seem to begoing in younger... going into residential care at 13. We are seeing more use at 13, because they areexposed to ice by the older kids”38