News

Aussie Paramedics Fear “Superhuman Strength” of Ice Users

16 July, 2015

Ambulance helping injured woman on stretcherParamedics across Australia have expressed concern about the “superhuman strength” exhibited by ice users they are helping during callouts, fearing it would just be a matter of time before they get hurt or even killed according to a report by Mark Willacy for ABC News.

Willacy’s report cited one case of a female ice user of slight build who needed to be restrained by three men with the assistance of policemen so they could sedate her. Once in the hospital, the woman had to be restrained again, this time by nine people because she was just too strong.

Paramedics have good reason to worry about their safety, as ice users can indeed be very violent, paranoid and unpredictable.

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Coordinated Action Needed to Solve Ice Epidemic in Australia

15 July, 2015

MethamphetamineReisa Su writes an article for the International Business Times saying that coordinated action is necessary if the ice epidemic in Australia is to be solved.

Su says this much is stressed out in the government report, Illicit Drug Data Report 2013-2014. The Australian drug market is rapidly expanding, organized crime groups are taking advantage, and many Australians have proven to be willing to pay higher than usual price for drugs like ice. This has made Australia an attractive marketplace for the manufacture and importation of ice or methylamphetamine.

A national task force has been formed by Prime Minister Tony Abbott to combat the ice epidemic. This task force will coordinate with state and local governments to address the problem. To further strengthen the response against the growing ice epidemic in Australia, collaboration between the government and the private sectors is also highly encouraged.

Read the full article here.

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Many Aussie Workers Use Ice to Boost Work Performance

08 July, 2015

ice and work performanceEveryone knows that methamphetamine or ice has devastating effects on one’s health, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping many employees from using it to get ahead of everybody else in the workplace. An article on News.com.au features two workers who have admitted to using ice to boost work performance, and their stories can be quite alarming.

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Drug Testing in the Workplace Across Industries

07 July, 2015

It has been decades since the idea of workplace drug testing was introduced, but it remains a difficult issue. While more and more employers are actually implementing workplace drug testing programs, many issues and questions continue to hound the practice to this day.

In most cases, workplace drug testing is unquestionably necessary in industries that use heavy equipment. These, after all, are high-risk fields that could easily turn into disaster areas in the blink of an eye because of a driver or a heavy machinery operator or a pilot working while impaired by alcohol or drugs, or both. But what about other industries that aren’t as safety-sensitive? Should workplace drug testing be introduced to all industries, and sack those who test positive for drugs and alcohol?

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