28 September 2006

New pilot treatment programs for ice and speed users

Two new clinics will be set-up to treat people suffering health problems from using methamphetamines such as Ice, NSW Health Minister John Hatzistergos announced today.

Mr Hatzistergos said the clinics will be established at Sydney's St Vincent Hospital and at the Royal Newcastle Centre, as part of the NSW Government's commitment to drug prevention and treatment.

"Methamphetamines are extremely dangerous drugs that are ruining young lives," Mr Hatzistergos said.

"Clinicians say they're more addictive and more harmful than they used to be and that more needs to be done to treat users," he said.

Mr Hatzistergos said $600,000 will be provided to run the methamphetamine clinics at St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst and the Royal Newcastle Centre.

"We want to provide specialised treatment services for methamphetamine users who aren't accessing standard drug and alcohol clinics because they don't believe they have a drug problem.

"These clinics will boost services already being provided in hospital emergency departments - we're committed to improving the co-ordination between drug and alcohol services and mental health services," he said.

The St Vincents clinic will have access to the 20 bed detoxification unit at Gorman House as well as the six bed psychiatric emergency care unit at St Vincents.

The Newcastle Clinic will have access to 12 beds at Lakeview Detox, eight beds at the James Fletcher Unit and four beds at the Mater Hospital.

Mr Hatzistergos said the two methamphetamine clinics will operate in a similar way to four "cannabis clinics" run by NSW Health - referrals coming from GPs, other agencies and people referring themselves.

The new methamphetamine clinics will be up and running by late October.

Recent statistics from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre and National Drug Household Survey shows:

• Amphetamines were the second most commonly used illicit drug after cannabis
• 9% of Australians have tried amphetamines
• There were 36,900 regular methamphetamine users in NSW
• Only one in 10 users had reported receiving treatment for their methamphetamine use in the past year.

Research shows heavy use of methamphetamines is associated with increased incidence of psychosis, violence, health problems and crime.
Rates of psychosis for regular methamphetamine users are up to 11 times higher than the general population.

Mr Hatzistergos said the new clinics will build on the existing NSW Government initiatives to tackle this emerging the issue, including:

• The major education campaign targeting young adults who use illicit drugs at clubs, pubs and festivals
• Information resources to target people who use psychostimulants to get the message out that there is no such thing as 'safe' use of these drugs
• Treatment plans developed to provide the framework for the health system to deal with the abuse of psychostimulants
• Clinical guidelines to help health professionals assess and manage people who use these drugs
• Specialist training for Area Health Service staff and drug and alcohol service workers across NSW
• The establishment of a taskforce to combat the widespread use of illicit drugs by long distance truck drivers.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au