Sally McCarthy kicked off the day with a presentation of some results and insights from the National Ice Taskforce report.
She gave an overview of the development process for the report and some of their key findings and recommendations. Quotes like the one below from people who were involved with Taskforce’s focus groups and roundtables really helped to put a human face on the issues the taskforce was trying to understand and address.
‘I remember smoking my first pipe. Creating my first swirl. Telling my friends how awesome it was.…. Until it tore people apart. Until it tore myself apart’
The need for effective, evidence based services that are able to deal with people with co-occurring methamphetamine use and mental health issues has been raised a number of times throughout the conference and Sally was no exception. She highlighted how many methamphetamine users are shunted between mental health and substance use treatment. At the end of the presentation Professor Maree Teesson briefly talked about some of the initiatives developed through the NHMRC Center for Research Excellence for mMental Health and Substance Use to address this issue. She discussed the Positive Choices website (https://positivechoices.org.au/) that was launched as a result of the recommendations made by the Ice Taskforce.
The Taskforce report is available here:
https://www.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/national_ice_taskforce_final_report.pdf
Sally concluded by encouraging the audience to read the full National Ice Taskforce report. Would love to hear if you have read the report and your thoughts - you can leave comments below.
Dr Louise Thornton
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
NHMRC CRE in Mental Health & Substance Use
