The rise of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, is devastating regional Victoria.
Ice is highly addictive, it's relatively cheap and a lot of it is produced right here in Australia.
Stella is a magistrate for the Hume region, covering areas such as Seymour, Broadford and Shepparton. She says rural Australia hasnt seen a drug epidemic of this kind before.
Stella has seen ice addicts as young as 11 appearing before the court, with little options for rehabilitation in the local area. She has seen a dramatic rise in the number of people addicted to ice in the region and believes the problem is only going to get worse. I dont think weve reached a peak in Victoria at all. I think thats still to come, Stella says.
It is a drug that is most often associated with bigger cities but as The Feed found out, ice is infiltrating small towns such as Horsham and Shepparton, destroying families and communities…
