Relieving Lake Illawarra Commander Acting Superintendent Andrew Koutsoufis said frontline police were increasingly seeing the drug’s dire effects on users and agreed with calls for a national approach to combat the scourge. 

‘‘Police see first hand that the effects are devastating,’’Acting Superintendent Koutsoufis said. 

‘‘People with superhuman strength at times, people who are completely irrational that commit serious injuries to themselves, horrific injuries.

‘‘People with no self-control; [it is] very difficult when dealing with a completely irrational person.  

‘‘It makes you wonder what the hell they are thinking taking it.’’

Last week Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said Australia needs a national approach to combat the ice epidemic.  

He said methamphetamine, or ice, was destroying families and communities throughout the country. A Victorian report indicated methamphetamine had seen a shift in use from the drug’s powdered form, known as speed, to crystal methamphetamine, a crystallised form called ice.

Mr Scipione told Macquarie Radio the drug created issues such as paranoid schizophrenia, psychotic disorders, hallucinations and aggression. 

Acting Superintendent Koutsoufis agreed it was an epidemic, saying it was unlike any other drug he’d encountered. 

‘‘It is a serious problem at Lake Illawarra as well,’’ he said. 

‘‘I’ve been involved in numerous drug investigations, from street level to highly organised – this one stands out.

‘‘It doesn’t discriminate between rich, poor, young or old.

‘‘It is highly addictive, and leads to massive issues – personal, professional and crime-related.’’

The latest Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures indicate  a 16.1per cent increase in arrests for amphetamine (including ice, speed and ecstasy) possession in NSW.

Acting Superintendent Koutsoufis said Lake Illawarra was about on par with other commands with regard to ice, but its presence had become more noticeable during the past three to five years. 

‘‘Every command has these issues; a lot of time and resources go into investigating and dealing with the after effects.

‘‘About ten years ago it started being an issue, but it’s escalated.

‘‘It’s taken over from heroin and other drugs.’’

He said other serious issues were crimes the drug’s use spawned, such as break-ins, robberies and fraud.

‘‘Users become very desperate.

‘‘A lot of people involved in serious crime are addicted to ice; it takes a lot of hard work to get over it.’’

One Victorian parliamentary drug committee member likened the scale of the state’s ice problem to the television show Breaking Bad, which featured lead character Walter White manufacturing methamphetamine. 

Acting Superintendent Koutsoufis said the suggestion such programs had glorified ice use and distribution was ‘‘a little bit of a stretch’’.

‘‘But considering the increase in cooks being located, it may not be too [far] out of reason,’’ he said. 

Police have discovered and dismantled more than 100 ice labs in NSW in the past 12 months.