Darwin local Donna Hunter lives with the consequences of methamphetamine abuse every day.

Her adult daughter has been jailed for crimes committed while on the drug, which is also known as ice.

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"I care for my three grandsons, my daughter has been incarcerated long term, three-and-a-half years, so I care for the children," she said.

She is not the only one. There are many families in Darwin struggling to get help for their ice-addicted children, who have children of their own.

Grandmother Cynthia Sariago looks after her 10-year-old grandson.

"I can't keep doing this, I'm 62 and I have to have that time for me," she said.

She said she is worried about the effects of ice on the community.

"You have got people running around with guns and bats and everything else that want to kill each other," Ms Sariago said.

"I'm just frightened that it's going to be innocent people that are going to get hurt."

Families crying out for help

In desperation, Ms Hunter set up the group Families Crying out for Help.

Sorry, this video has expired Families of ice addicts in the NT have formed a support group.

Grandparents and families of addicts attend regularly, along with users, and those who have quit methamphetamine.

Many in the group wish to stay anonymous. They say there is no help out there for them and they have struggled to deal with the meth use of their loved ones.

"It doesn't matter where you go, nobody wants to know about it," one of the group said.

"I've had a family member who has been on this horrible drug for a number years... there's no real help.

"This is the first time, when we've come to this group, that we've all been able to talk about it."

Rather jail than streets

There is a range of drug and alcohol services in the Northern Territory, but no specialised methamphetamine rehabilitation.

NT Police display some of the 55 grams of methamphetamine they alleged a man was carrying in his underwear in 2014. ( Supplied: NT Police )

Ms Hunter said there is little support available for addicts.

"In my view, there is nothing out there for them.. so if a family member came and said 'I want help', we don't know where to send them," she said.

Ms Sariago said jail is the only place that is safe for their children.

"Why should it have to come to that? That they have to commit a crime, to go to jail to give up the drugs," she said.

"Why can't there be something out here for them to turn to?"

Increasing psychosis could lead to brain damage: doctors

Dr Robert Parker, the head of the Northern Territory branch of the Australian Medical Association and psychiatry for Top End mental health services, said the spread of methamphetamine is putting intense pressure on hospitals.

"We are certainly getting more admissions from people who are psychotic as a result of ice," Dr Parker said.

"They become very fearful, they can develop delusions, and in that context they can often become very aggressive to themselves and other people.

"We are seeing a significant rise in people that are developing psychosis from amphetamine abuse."

Dr Parker said there was increasing evidence of brain damage in meth users.

"Whatever brain process is leading to psychosis is also leading to brain damage," he said.

Police report making regular seizures of the drug

Police said they have seen an explosion in methamphetamine abuse and related crime in the Northern Territory over the past two years.

Detective Superintendent Tony Fuller, from the NT drug squad, said raids are taking place almost every day.

"Our seizures are certainly going up, we are regularly seizing over an ounce at a time, it's pretty regular for us," he said.

"We are seeing a lot of violence amongst the drug users themselves, rips offs, stand overs, extortion.

"There is a lot of violence associated with it, there's also a lot of property crime associated with it, people have got to pay for their habits."

He said users are often becoming dealers.

"In three to six months they can completely ruin their lives," he said.

Superintendent Tony Fuller said the drug is entering the Northern Territory via air, sea and road.

"There is certainly a lot that comes from interstate, but there is some that is made locally," he said.

Danger for remote Aboriginal communities

Sources have told the ABC methamphetamine has also started to appear in remote Aboriginal communities.

Detective Superintendent Tony Fuller concedes the drug has made its way into some of the most remote places in Australia.

"We occasionally see people, Indigenous people, in part that have come from the major centres such as Darwin, who will travel to a nearby remote community," Mr Fuller said.

He said it is "inevitable" that use of the drug will continue to rise in the Territory.

"It is something that we are very mindful of and very worried about, because it does have devastating effects on people."