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29 May 2017
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs, Our Stories Permalink

Ice Rips Apart Melbourne Family

Sticky Post By On May 29, 2017

ABC Radio Melbourne morning presenter Jon Faine accepted an invitation from a listener to sit down have a cup of tea and talk about what’s happened in his family. “Tony”, as he asked to be called, wanted his story to be heard by a wider audience.

JF: Let’s start at the beginning. Tell us, what happened?

Tony: I guess the best place to start would be, nearly on three years ago now my wife and I received two distressing calls from two of our oldest sons.

JF: You have how many children altogether?

Tony:Four. We’ve lived in our community for over thirty years. Like all parents we’ve always wanted to do the right things and we’re very connected in the community. A loving family, grandparents who adored the grandchildren but on this particular day we received two distressing calls separately. One to me and one to my wife. It was basically screaming coming over the phone. There was the mention of “He’s going to shoot me”. I grabbed my wife, we jumped in the car and we went to this place, which happened to be my parents house, about 10 minutes away. We got there and as we were rounding the corner there was over 30 police cars, there were helicopters. It was like a scene out of some sort of movie. There were the tapes they put across the road. Well, I disregarded the tapes and drove through them and I could see my younger of my two older boys lying on the ground.

JF: He’s how old?

Tony: At the time he was approximately 25. As with anything like that of course what you’re hoping for is to see some kind of movement. He was just lying there so we had no idea whether he was dead, alive or whatever.

JF: Were there police nearby?

Tony: There were over two-dozen police …

JF: No, no. Nearby him specifically? On the ground.

Read more

06 May 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Drugs Permalink

What do you do if your kids are drinking or doing drugs?

Sticky Post By On May 6, 2016
Rene de Sant'Anna - Odyssey House

Rene de Sant’Anna – Odyssey House

My core business is working with young people who are using substances and helping them to cut down or get off those substances. I’ve been working in this field for 22 years and the main substances kids use are the same – alcohol and cannabis. They may hav tried LSD, mushrooms, eccies (ecstasy) or cocaine, but their staple drug is usually cannabis or alcohol. Usually their parents refer them to me, and a young person is reluctant because they don’t see a problem – then we need to get that young person to a point where they also see their substance use is a problem.

People use drugs because they change the way they feel. The first time a young person uses they’ll have positive feelings and then they come back down to normal. So they use that drug again and then again because it feels good. Then something happens that wouldn’t have happened if they weren’t under the influence of that substance. Maybe a child misses school because they’re going to a friend’s house to smoke or drink, or they’re out late and the police bring them home, or they drink too much in the park, throw up and need an ambulance, or they can’t be bothered to go to football or netball. Read more

01 May 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Drugs With 2 Comments Permalink

A Parents Guide to Heroin

Sticky Post By On May 1, 2016 With 2 Comments

Heroin Drugs 101By Cheryl Critchley

Heroin use is not common among Australian teenagers; latest figures reveal only 1.6 per cent of high-school students have used opiates or narcotics such as heroin or morphine other than for medical reasons.

Heroin is a depressant and belongs to a group of drugs known as “opioids” that are derived from the opium poppy. It comes in different forms, including fine white powder, coarse off-white granules and tiny pieces of light brown “rock”.

Heroin is usually injected into a vein, but it can also be smoked (“chasing the dragon”) and added to cigarettes and cannabis. The effects are usually felt straight away. If snorted, it takes 10 to 15 minutes to take effect. Read more

30 Apr 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs Permalink

Teach your kids to make safe decisions

Sticky Post By On April 30, 2016
Alan Eade The Paramedic

Alan Eade is an intensive-care paramedic based in Melbourne’s CBD. Photo: Fiona Hamilton

A 20-year veteran of the ambulance service, paramedic Alan Eade attends incidents every week involving young people affected by drugs or alcohol.

Around midnight last night we were called to help a 14–year–old boy on the city streets. He and some other teenagers did a snatch-and-run at a bottle shop. He consumed quite a bit of alcohol in a short space of time and became intoxicated. Police saw him and called an ambulance.

He wasn’t life-threateningly unwell and he hadn’t run away from home either but he was taken to a children’s hospital where he could safely sleep off the alcohol and be supervised while he recovered. Since I began this job alcohol has always been present but it was unusual in the under–14s. Now we see children in single-digit years drinking alcohol on a regular basis. It’s more prevalent in a wider group of young people. Read more

29 Apr 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs Permalink

Don’t think this couldn’t happen to your child. It can.

Sticky Post By On April 29, 2016
Felicity is Nick's mum

Used for illustrative purposes only, the person depicted in this image is a model.

Earlier in Nick’s life we didn’t realise he had dyslexia and other learning difficulties. He was in a supposedly top school in the state but they weren’t interested in helping him. He was put in the ‘too hard’ basket and was ostracised. And Nick felt that. In hindsight, that’s when all the trouble began …

I didn’t realise for quite a long time that when I dropped Nick at the school gate he’d walk out the back gate and spend the day smoking marijuana with his friends. Then he started arriving home from school a little later and a little later. Four o’clock became five o’clock and then 9 or 10pm. I’d drive around the streets looking for him. Read more

26 Apr 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs, Our Stories Permalink

It’s so easy to use when you’re with mates

Sticky Post By On April 26, 2016
Young Adult lighting a marijuana Joint in the dark

Used for illustrative purposes only, the person depicted in this image is a model.

I was about 12 when I began smoking a little bit of pot. I began drinking too and occasionally I tried speed. I never fitted into school and I found a pair of mates who were the same and we’d use with each other. It’s hard to explain why I started but I suppose I relied on these things to make me feel better. When I got too many thoughts in my head – happy or sad – I’d try and wash them out with drugs.

I started smoking pot more often in the week and doing crazy things on the weekend. By the time I was 13 or 14 I was using pot every day and drinking and popping pills and I was in and out of different schools.

In early 2012 I got a job working with my family. I’d only smoke pot during the week but would go really crazy at the weekends – coke, amphetamines, methamphetamines … I got prescribed benzos as well. Whatever I could get, really. Read more

25 Apr 2016
Sticky Post By Posted in Drugs With 1 Comment Permalink

A Parents Guide to Cannabis

Sticky Post By On April 25, 2016 With 1 Comment

By Cheryl Critchley

One in three adults and one in seven teenagers has tried cannabis.

Cannabis is Australia’s most popular illicit drug and many of today’s high-school parents have tried it. The 2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey found that 35 per cent of Australians reported using cannabis at least once, with 10 per cent using it in the past year. A 2011 Australian high-school students’ survey found cannabis was the most commonly used illicit substance by this age group, with 15 per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds reporting they had tried it.

Most people who use cannabis seek a sense of mild euphoria and relaxation, often referred to as a “high”. Cannabis causes changes in the user’s mood and also affects how they think and perceive the environment. Everyday activities such as watching television and listening to music can become altered and more intense.

Generally speaking, people who start smoking cannabis at a younger age and smoke heavily are more likely to experience problems. This may include mental health problems, and more general life problems, such as conflict at home or school/work, financial problems and memory problems.

If a teenager has a genetic vulnerability, such as close family with depression, psychosis, bipolar disorder or anxiety, or if they have an existing mental health issue, cannabis should be avoided.

Rolling a joint Read more

12 Jul 2015
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs Permalink

Isn’t it time we heard something positive about drugs?

Sticky Post By On July 12, 2015
Isn't it time we heard something positive?

Parents: It’s important to stay optimistic. Things can change for the better, even when you least expect it.

One thing we’re trying to do differently at Parent Guides is to highlight the importance of telling stories and sharing experiences. Shocking statistics and fear often underpin a vast majority of educational material relating to drugs. Unfortunately much of what were hear are horror stories.

Isn’t it about time we heard something positive?

Sally’s* 16-year-old daughter has successfully pulled herself out of drug addiction to pursue her childhood dream. She told us her story.. Read more

12 Jun 2015
Sticky Post By Posted in Blog, Drugs Permalink

The basics all parents should know about Ice

Sticky Post By On June 12, 2015
Basics about Ice

A poignant quote from sex worker Ashly Lorenzana who published an autobiographical memoir entitled Sex, Drugs & Being an Escort.

Ice is a highly addictive form of amphetamine known as methamphetamine. It is stronger than the powdered form of amphetamine, speed. Usage rates by Australian teenagers are generally low, but pockets of Melbourne and regional Victoria face growing ice-related problems, both physical and social. Drug overdose deaths and ambulance attendances involving ice have risen in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria in the past two years.

While the use of amphetamines as a whole has not increased, more people are using it in the potent crystal methamphetamine form (ice), which produces strong highs very quickly and can be highly addictive. Read more

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