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

the use of these drugs may (or may not) have been higher on the Friday or Saturday. In addition,there is the possibility that dumping (i.e. drugs dumped into the toilet/drain if there was a police raid)could have contributed to the results obtained.Consistent with research in Adelaide [105], the Victorian WWA found that methamphetamine use inthe regional and rural areas sampled was generally lower than that in metropolitan areas. Irving et al[105] also found that methamphetamine use seems to be more consistently used throughout theweek with a slight increase on the weekend. The Victorian sites seemed to follow similar trends tothese, with the exception of Warracknabeal.The WWA shows us that prevalence of methamphetamine use in regional and rural areas is lowerthan in metropolitan Melbourne. Unsurprisingly, use was higher on the weekends than during theweek in all areas. Finally, WWA analysis indicates that while levels of use are higher in metropolitanareas, methamphetamine is certainly present in regional and rural areas.9. Discussion and conclusionThis report shows that there is an increase in the availability, purity and use of methamphetamineacross the state, with it emerging as a more noticeable issue during the second half of 2012. There islittle doubt that this is related to trends in the extremely profitable Victorian illicit drugs market, andjudging by many respondents’ observations, a form of normalisation of crystal methamphetamineuse. While heroin tends to be scarce outside of Melbourne or large regional centres (such asGeelong), this is certainly not the case with methamphetamine.Interviews with key informants highlighted that harms associated with problematicmethamphetamine, including increasing numbers of people injecting it. Methamphetamine is placing asignificant burden on individuals, families and communities. In smaller towns in particular, harmssuch as theft and violence may feel concentrated, with even a small number of users having anoticeable effect on communities. Aboriginal communities are not immune to the overallmethamphetamine use issues, including the stresses upon family structures.All problematic substance use is known to cause a burden to society in relation to demand onemergency services (police, hospitals and ambulance), demand on services such as treatment,counselling and support, as well as harms associated with lack of housing, health issues and damageto families. The increased ambulance callouts related to methamphetamine, and the fact that a highproportion of the callouts end up with the patient being transported to hospital, quite possibly in anagitated state, is but one indication that methamphetamine presents qualitatively different challengesthan do the opioids for which our health systems, including Needle and Syringe Programs, are morefamiliar.There was a sense from the consultations that the harms trajectory associated withmethamphetamine use was short compared with other drugs. This meant that problematicmethamphetamine use tended to impact the individual, families and community much faster, andsuggests the heightened importance of early intervention. This would require greater awareness ofthe effects of the drug and its various impacts on health and wellbeing, particularly for young peopleand their parents and carers. Greater knowledge of ‘how’ and ‘what works’ in terms of how to shortcircuitmethamphetamine use and get treatment is needed across communities.Responding to problematic drug use within a community requires a coordinated effort from a range ofindividuals, businesses and services. As outlined in the regional health service case study, withreports of high levels of methamphetamine use in cohorts already disadvantaged, or at-risk, the63