Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday unveiled a new A$300 million (US$220.2 million) strategy to combat the growing use of crystal methamphetamine, following a government report that Australia had proportionally more users than most countries.
The new funding marks a shift towards prevention and treatment in addressing the “ice” scourge, with Turnbull saying law enforcement efforts to tackle the illicit drug’s supply needed to be coupled with reducing demand.
“The responsibility for tackling this very complex problem can’t be left to the police alone,” Turnbull told reporters in Sydney as he launched the final report from the National Ice Taskforce.
He said the new funding — based on recommendations by the task force to boost support for families, communities and frontline workers affected by ice use — would mostly be channeled to primary health networks.
“Proportionally, Australians use more methamphetamine, including ice, than almost any other country,” Turnbull said, adding that the use of ice had doubled since 2007 to more than 200,000 users in 2013, with anecdotal evidence of higher current numbers.
Consumption of the highly addictive drug in regional, rural and indigenous communities across the country had also risen, the report said, with the new funding set to improve access to treatment for users in remote areas.
The task force called for stronger intelligence coordination between Australia’s states and territories and tougher security at the nation’s air and sea ports to stem the influx of the drug, as international crime syndicates are attracted by the top dollar Australians pay for illegal substances.
“The enormous amount that we pay for ice here in Australia means that organized criminal gangs, literally from all over the world, have an interest in the Australian market,” Australian Minister for Justice Michael Keenan said at the media conference.
“Mexican crime gangs, Iranian dealers, distribution networks from west Africa and Chinese organized crime gangs as well, because we know that China is a very significant transhipment point for this drug,” he said.
An Australian Crime Commission report published earlier this year found that while US$80 bought 1g of ice in China, users in Australia had to pay US$500 for the same amount.
Keenan said federal police were already working with Chinese Narcotics Control Bureau. Criminal intelligence officers were also embedded with their international counterparts in the US, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates to pursue the criminal gangs, he added.
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