The Sun-Herald on 18th October 2009 ran a front page story and the opening paragraph went like this:
‘Cold and flu remedies containing pseudoephedrine would be available by prescription only if authorities adopt a radical plan aimed at tackling Australia’s growing ice epidemic.’
It’s the bit about ‘Australia’s growing ice epidemic’ which is kind of interesting, because if you go to the website of The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, which is an Australian Institution, you will find the following which I have simply cut and pasted:
“ICE” USE FALLS; COCAINE USE IN NSW INCREASESUse of crystal methamphetamine, ’ice’, fell across Australia in 2009, with the steepest drop being recorded in NSW, according to research of emerging drug trends collated by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at the University of NSW.
Do we need to be concerned about people hurting themselves with substances of any flavour? Without quetion. Do we need to be accurate in understanding the reality of what is happening around us? Well, it might just be a good idea mightn’t it?