Let's get real about meth.

Let's get real about meth. The "vast majority" of Australian's have used drugs, however, according to the Australian Drug foundation only 7.1% of Aussies have used drugs in the past 12 months. This information is literally drawn from a survey that that government pay for and ask people to fill in for them. Results from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey are simply unrealistic, I say triple the numbers and we will be scratching at the truth. My answer on a government survey titled the "National Drug Household Survey" would be "I've never used drugs". I never lie, but on a survey about drugs collected for the government I would lie. Saying that, my gut tells me that you would lie too.

In a separate study, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2023 16.1% of heterosexual people admitted to using drugs on a survey, whilst 47.4% of LGBTQIA+ people admitted to using illicit drugs in their survey. These results are much more significant than the results from the Australian Drug Foundation, however, looking at these numbers I still say "double it to get a realistic picture of drug use in Australia. That would get us to a more realistic number of 32.3% of heterosexual people and 94.8% of LGBTQIA+ people.

Scary to be in the ball part of realistic, but someone has to tell the truth about drug culture in Australia and keeping it real will help us get to the crux of the issue.

This is my theory as to why 32.3% of heterosexual Aussies and 94.8% of LGBTQIA+ Aussies have used drugs in the past 12 months. Let's look at Chrystal Meth as it's the most controversial and dangerous drug on the streets right now. Crystal meth makes you feel 150%. Everybody will agree with me. You feel 150% right away, when your previous best day was 100%. That 100% was a really good day, you got a promotion at work, spent the day at Disneyland, then got home to find out your wife was pregnant after trying for 12 months. That's normal 100%.

Image Source: https://www.tellwut.com/blog/perception-of-drug-usage

The trouble is, once you have experienced 150% on a normal boring day, you know that you can easily get to 150% again. You will never again be happy with 100% because you will always remember that time you felt 150%. Once you try Chrystal Meth, you are fucked.

There was a time in Germany when everyone was using it. Housewives were popping pills all day long and things were great. Unfortunately, there is a downside, and they changed the laws in Germany because they had to. Eventually 150% is out of reach and you can only get to 120%. Still good, however in time, 120% becomes 100%. I'm talking a couple of years. Being completely honest, a Chrystal Meth 100% is still really terrific considering that most of us spend our days at 80% and need magical stuff to happen to reach 100% naturally.

However, it keeps moving down, and your natural 80% is no longer achievable either. This is when addiction kicks in. You need the drug at this point because your natural day is starting at 40%. 80% becomes something of the past and 40% becomes your existence. The drug can get you close to 80% again, but it's hit and miss. Say you have external pressures, or life isn't going your way, 40% is just not liveable. The only solution is to crack on with your mate Chrystal.

Source: https://www.inquirer.com/health/suicide-spring-season-peak-20190326.html

The good thing about the drug is you can still get up to 70% when your baseline is 40%, but it doesn't do anything more than that. People tend to start using GHB with Chrystal Meth to achieve the higher numbers, but it's a really tacky drug so most people cruse through on 70% until they have 4 weeks where they can be alone and be issue free to get off the stuff. I'm unsure rehab is necessary for Chrystal Meth addiction, 4 weeks is all anyone needs to get their shit together, but it's hard to find 4 weeks where external pressures don't push you back into addiction. I suppose that's where rehab is good, you get the 4 weeks.

Then there are the variety of ways you can use the drug. You can ingest it, which is where people start. You can snort it, which is a progression from ingesting, but it burns like hell. You can smoke it using a pipe or foil, which is the most common use. Then there is injecting, which has previously reserved for junkies but it has become a really popular weekend way of using for gay and bisexual men as well as many Hetro folk. The stigma around injecting has vanished in many cultures which is frightening when you think about it. It's important to put all the facts on the table so that you can get a proper picture of drug culture in Australia.

I've mentioned the bad times, they are hard to get through when you are an addict, but surprisingly the good times are just as bad. When you feel really low addiction is powerful and when you are feeling really high it is too. Imagine what that 100% day would feel like with a Chrystal Meth boost, we're up at 175%. As I said, Chrystal Meth is fucked. It's a really bizarre thing to deal with, but hopefully my percentage theory helps you understand the why? I don't know if anyone has been able to articulate it well before me so I'm patting myself on the back. I'm completely dyslexic so every paragraph that makes a solid point is an achievement.

Make sure you are sitting down for my next point. I believe that locking up Carl Williams was the worst thing for Australia. Carl Williams owned the drug game, and everyone was using Exstacy on the weekends. Locking up Carl Williams stopped the Exstacy trade completely, however, stopping the Exstacy trade started the Ice Epidemic. Nobody was robbing their grandma for Exstacy, and the psych ward wasn't full of Exstacy addicts. Exstacy was relatively safe to use, it was a million times less addictive, and it caused much less harm to society than meth does. I remember leaving the Exstacy party culture in Australia to travel overseas for three years, and when I returned, Carl Williams was dead, and the party drug culture had completely changed. Everyone was using a new drug that was previously reserved for hardcore addicts.

People are always going to use drugs, it's not unlike prostitution, society has a need and a demand for both and no matter how many barriers you put in place a drug culture is not going anywhere. Many years ago, I was working in Singapore, I was actually interviewed on the NEWS at the time of Van Nugen's hanging. But I was in a bar and a drag queen offered me Exstacy. I couldn't believe it, in a city where a pill landed you dead people were still pushing drugs and taking huge risks offering them to strangers from another country. I declined, of course, but I'll be honest, I tossed the idea around in my head for a minute or two. I was drinking and cruising on 100%.

It's time we get real about meth. It's time we rethink the numbers collected through surveys that most people will lie on, we will understand that the meth issue is a widespread cultural issue in Australia effecting minority groups as well as mainstream Aussies. Cultural issues require cultural solutions and changing cultures takes patients and time. The goal is to remove the desire for drugs like meth as the obvious solution of removing meth itself will just lead to a different, more harmful culture. Nobody can predict what it will look like. Bath salts? Wouldn't that be mental.

Glenn Hall is a former advertising executive turned freelance communications consultant. Glenn has a fresh perspective on topical issues and a unique way of viewing the world.   With diverse interests, no topic is out of reach and Glenn will be sure to challenge your thinking.