I was lucky enough to sit down with outgoing NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione this week when he was in Parkes to say farewell to officers in the Lachlan Area Command.
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I tagged along when a journalist from the Parkes Champion Post interviewed him.
When the issue of ice was raised he shared some key points regarding the battle to eliminate the use of the insidious drug.
Apart from the obvious that demand for the drug needed to be driven down Commissioner Scipione believes families need to step in and help.
“I know there are some that say we have to rethink this, well we do but that doesn’t mean we have to stop doing what we’re doing, we’ve got to do all we can to stop the tonnes of this poison getting on the streets,” Mr Scipione said.
He added that some of the most important things we can do to rid our streets of the drug revolve around how families discuss drugs with each other.
“And they need to do it when the children are young,” he said.
“I remember when I was a kid it was cool to smoke, no one wore seat belts and everyone thought it was okay to have a drink and drive, but we had to educate people about the dangers of those things.”
“Supply and demand is supreme in this business.
“(Ice) can destroy families, you can tear the fabric of family so that it is almost not recoverable.
“You can destroy generations of harmony in a family in the blink of an eye. It’s a terrible, insidious drug,” he said.
He went on to point out ice can turn normal healthy people into a person with serious mental health issues.
“It can take normal healthy people and turn them into psychotic, paranoid, crazy people. Police officers get injured trying to control superhuman strength, it takes its toll on everyone,” he said.
Bringing down the dealers is always only going to be part of the solution, not the entire solution
“It might not be tomorrow, might not be in a year, but it will get you and when it does it could destroy you,” he said.
“How much do you care about your kids? Do you care enough to confront them? I think that’s the discussion you need to have around that table,” he said.
You owe it to your kids, have that discussion now.
Andrew Fisher