The Catholic Leader - 7 May

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Keeping Faith with You
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Queensland Price $2 / $2.50 Interstate May 7, 2017. Issue 5448
THE Leader Catholic
‘One mother said to me – it’s stronger than a mother’s love’: priest
SCOURGE
OF ICE
Relentless nightmare: A Brisbane priest says the anguish of parents and families of ice addicts is relentless. Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
By Mark Bowling
THE drug ice has taken such a grip
in Queensland that government
and care agencies are swamped by
demand for crisis intervention, treat-
ment and support for the families
of users including children, and the
effects are being felt in parishes.
A Queensland Government report has revealed
one in every three children found to be in need
of protection in 2016 had a parent who used
methamphetamines, most commonly the highly
addictive and easy-to-obtain crystal meth, ice.
About 60 per cent of those 749 children suf-
fered neglect, about a third were subjected to
emotional harm, and 11 per cent experienced
physical harm.
“One mother said to me – it’s stronger than
a mother’s love,” said Fr Peter Dillon, until
recently dean of Brisbane archdiocese’s South
Country deanery, including Ipswich, and recently
appointed to Surfers Paradise parish.
The Gold Coast including Beenleigh, Ipswich
and Brisbane North to Caloundra are identified
as “ice corridors” in the government report, col-
lectively being responsible for 40 per cent of all
cases in the state.
As ice use spreads, filling a vacuum of unem-
ployment and boredom, Fr Dillon said the drug
was also tearing apart working and middle-class
families, affecting people from all walks of life.
He said the anguish of parents and families of
ice addicts was relentless.
“They’re constantly living with the thought
that this person is going to end up in hospital, in
jail, or in a coffin.
“It is not a designer drug. This is the suburban
drug that is cheap and easy to get hold of. It has
permeated every area of society.”
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