Dear Karene:

I am not surprised that you read a lot about psychosis and crystal meth, and your understanding makes sense to me. Taking it all together, I figure that the only way Russel will not stop using meth is if he has no money to buy it, or no access to people who sell it.

His mother is not well herself and most likely, at the least, she significantly contributed to her two adult children very poor mental health. I don’t see a reason to hope that she will do what’s right for any of them in the future, no more than she has done in the past. What’s right for them, particularly for Russel, seems to me, is to get him to a hospital, and keep him there regardless of him agreeing to it or not (an involuntary hospitalization), detox him from crystal math and any other drug he may be on, other than the Risperdal, and then figure out a better living arrangement for him, an institution of some kind.

I wonder if Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA) in Australia can help you regarding Russel. You can contact people on that website and ask perhaps if involuntary hospitalization is possible for Russel, and if there is anything you can do, as his friend, to make it happen. Their website is: www. crystalmeth. org. au (no spaces).

There is an article online written by The Cabin Sydney, which is a specialist addiction treatment centre dealing with substance addictions, it has outpatients services in Sydney. Their website is, no spaces: www. thecabinsydney.  com. au/ blog/ australias- deadly- addiction- to- meth. In an article they published, Sept 1, 2015, they warned about a pandemic of a different kind from the current Covid-19 that we are experiencing world wide:

“Across Australia, officials are talking about soaring rates of meth addiction, warning that levels of meth use have reached pandemic proportions.. Ice is extremely addictive.. 7% of all Australians have tried ice at some point in their lives. This is compared to only 1.2% ever trying heroin.. ice addiction and its use is particularly dangerous as it is associated with drug induced psychosis, violence, and erratic behavior.. there are more purer forms of the drug reaching the streets.

In Victoria, the number of meth related ambulance calls has doubled in recent years, and ice is now the second leading cause of drug overdose, after heroin. Officials say it has surpassed heroin as Australia’s most dangerous illicit drug… The ice epidemic is distressing for communities and straining systems at all levels… According to Australian officials, the response to the ice epidemic will take collaboration from all areas of society. Government, law enforcement, social services, educators, and parents will have to work together in order to make a difference..

Some drug rehab centres have retrained employees to handle meth users specifically, as they can be more difficult to deal with than other types of drug addicts… There is currently a major shortage of treatment options in Australia, and many suffering from meth addiction are waiting months to receive treatment in overcrowded, ill-equipped treatment centres. .. At the Cabin Sydney we offer a comprehensive, integrative approach to addiction recovery. Contact us today if you or someone you love is in need of meth addiction treatment”.

-you can see how little power you have (as one individual/ friend of an addict) over this epidemic in general, and specifically, now little power you have over Russel’s addiction. It takes a whole lot of people, lots of resources, and lots of time and patience to lead one ice addict to no longer use the drug.

All you can do is what you did recently, talk to him as if he is a child, talk kindly to him, send him a card.. and perhaps contact the two websites I mentioned for further information.

anita