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Medical hit squad needed for addicts

Scourge:Meth. Picture: Bill Hatto/The West Australian

WA needs a medical “hit squad” to deal with the growing number of ice addicts, including around-the-clock specialist drug nurses in all hospital emergency departments, according to the State’s peak doctors’ group.

A strike team hitting outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised criminals that are preying on West Australians has made 17 arrests and seized guns, 7kg of methamphetamine, more than $805,000 cash and bullet-resistant vests since its launch in July.

The Australian Medical Association said this week that addiction medicine specialists needed to train the broader health workforce, particularly GPs who were often the first point of contact for drug users not known to police or drug treatment agencies.

In its submission to the State Opposition, which is developing a methamphetamine action plan, the AMA outlined an urgent need for more inpatient detox units, saying access to rehabilitation services was poor and inflexible.

WA president Michael Gannon said the health system was not equipped to deal with meth, particularly the high rate of psychosis in addicts.

“It’s a major scourge and you’ll speak to officers who say, ‘Bring back heroin’, and we’re seeing meth fracturing communities and ruining families,” he said.

“We’d also love to see the police and legal system get more resources to deal with the gangs that peddle this filth.”

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the WA arm of the national anti-gangs squad was established to tackle the threat posed by the “violent predators profiting from the misery of ice trafficking and other illegal activities”.

“More than 60 per cent of Australia’s highest-risk serious and organised crime targets are profiting from the misery of ice to the detriment of the economic and social fabric of our communities,” he said.

“Cross-border crooks should be on notice that the Commonwealth has unprecedented co-operation with States and Territories to tackle the ice scourge,” he said.

The Perth-based task force includes WA and Federal police officers and an analyst from the tax office, who work with the WA Police gang crime squad.

Commonwealth funding was also provided to support a new dedicated WA Police surveillance team.
The NAGS WA strike team’s results include charging 17 people with 64 offences, most of them members and associates of the Lone Wolf bikie gang.