Not all drugs are created equal and ice – a highly potent, highly addictive form of methamphetamine – is to illegal stimulants what heroin is to illegal opiates.

When heroin was released onto the streets in the early ’80s, the effect was both swift and savage.

Thousands of naive young Australians experimented with the drug and soon found themselves hopelessly hooked.

Their descent into a personal hell was accompanied by a spate of overdose deaths and a spike in the crime rate.

Ice’s choke-hold on users is equally as powerful.

The internet is awash with “before and after” photos of ice addicts, showing the horrendous toll the drug takes on an addict’s physical features - rotting teeth, scabby skin and emaciation.

The drug also takes a toll on an addict’s soul, forcing them to structure their lives around their next hit, regardless of the price.

Ice makes users ugly inside and out.

That the drug is freely available and freely abused in Tamworth and surrounds is a given.

Those on the frontline – police, ambulance, social workers and hospital staff – all say their contact with ice users has skyrocketed in recent years.

We cannot afford to allow ice to sink its claws any deeper into our communities.

Raising awareness of this filthy drug – the way it’s made, the way it grabs hold of individuals and its easy accessibility – is the first step.

But education is not enough.

We need services to reach out to those in the grip of addiction.

A safe injecting room in Moree would be a good starting point.

The town has become the needle capital of our region, posing profound risk to users and residents.

An injecting room wouldn’t just keep more needles off the streets, it would be an effective “circuit breaker” in giving social workers an opportunity to speak to addicts.

Desperate, angry people who are in a self-medicating trap are not in a position to make rational decisions.

We, as a community, must do all we can to help them squeeze out of that trap.