Last month, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced a National Ice Taskforce would be established to co-ordinate local, state and federal efforts against the use, sale, manufacturing and importation of crystal meth-amphetamine.
Following the announcement, ABC Radio National’s Fran Kelly interviewed John Ryan, the CEO of the Penington Institute and a member of the Victorian Ice Action Taskforce, who subsequently endorsed SMART Recovery Australia as an economic solution to Australia’s ice problem.
Excerpt from interview (10:24min):
Fran Kelly:
In terms of treatment, it’s costly; when it comes to drug and alcohol we just never seem to have enough money there.
John Ryan:
I don’t think it is expensive compared to the actual cost of not addressing it. The cost to the health system, the law and order system, etc. with untreated addiction is much greater than actually preventing and intervening early with drug treatment. So it’s very cost effective – and there’s lots of support the Government could provide for mutual support groups such as SMART Recovery – where drugs users who are trying to recover from their addiction can support each other. It’s not actually expensive and even the money it does cost; the return on investment makes it worthwhile.
SMART Recovery Australia is making a submission to the National Ice Taskforce and wants to include the real life success stories of SMART Recovery participants who have used the SMART programme to overcome problems with ice.
SMART Recovery Australia wants to ask participants that have used ice the following questions:
- How has SMART Recovery assisted you in overcoming your problem with ice?
- If you could say one thing to the Australian National Ice Taskforce, what would that be?
Please email any responses to: rmcglaughlin@srau.org.au by Wednesday, 27 May 2015.
Participants can remain anonymous, however we do ask that contact details for respondents be kept on file just for the duration of the submission process. SMART Recovery Australia will upload its overall submission to this website.
For further information about the National Ice Taskforce see: http://www.dpmc.gov.au/taskforces/national-ice-taskforce/
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