Rachael Brown reported this story on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 18:26:00

MARK COLVIN: The Australian Crime Commission's annual drugs report warns that the use of meth - or ice - is emerging as a pandemic. Methamphetamine arrests last financial year were second only to cannabis.



The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, says Australia will never win the war on drugs, but needs to keep fighting, and health groups warn the problem needs to be tackled at a family and local community level.



Rachael Brown reports.



RACHAEL BROWN: The Australian Crime Commission's Judy Lind says its 11th illicit drug data report paints a grim picture.



JUDY LIND: This year the key findings are one of record highs. The number of illicit drug seizures are at an all time high, as are the number of arrests, and the weight of illicit drug seizures the second highest on record.



RACHAEL BROWN: This second-highest haul equates to 19.6 tonnes of drugs.



Of most concern; seizures of methamphetamine - or ice - alone topped two tonnes, a jump of more than 500 per cent on the year before. And this could be just a fraction of the quantity actually being used.



GRAHAM ASHTON: From a law enforcement side of things, we'll only ever have the tip of the iceberg. This is just because of the sheer quantities involved, and the size of the law enforcement defensive will always be lower than the size of the market



In terms of community harm, ice doesn't have any peer.



RACHAEL BROWN: In Victoria, the state with the most methamphetamine arrests, deputy commissioner Graham Ashton says there's a generation of youth at risk, particularly in rural areas.



GRAHAM ASHTON: You're seeing high levels of addicted youth in relation to ice; you're seeing the consequences in family violence, you're seeing it in robberies, you're seeing it in road policing offences and road trauma.



RACHAEL BROWN: The Crime Commission says methamphetamine use is emerging as a pandemic. It's compared it to the damage caused by crack cocaine in the United States.



While parcel post accounts for the majority of detections at the Australian border, a lot of last year's big hauls arrived via sea cargo from China. The liquid and crystal methamphetamine was hidden in carpet cleaning products, sofas and chairs, and shampoo and conditioner.



The Commission has also raised concerns that relatively high drug prices in Australia have made it a magnet for a flow of drugs from overseas. This is echoed by John Ryan, the CEO of the Pennington Institute.



JOHN RYAN: The profits in the illegal drug industry are so huge. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which was a very conservative estimate in 2010, out of sales of $1.05 billion on crystal meth, the profit was $1.03 billion. You don't get those profits in legitimate businesses.



RACHAEL BROWN: And where are the major syndicates?



JOHN RYAN: A lot of it is actually coming from China, but it's also coming from countries as far afield as Burma, Iran… even Europe, Canada. So really right across the globe this is a problem, and supply routes are always outfoxing supply control law enforcement.



RACHAEL BROWN: Have you identified areas where Australia could be doing better in combating the drugs problem?



JOHN RYAN: We can't expect Government to solve this problem. The real challenge though is to have honest, frank, realistic and factual conversations about drugs at the family level. We've got to skill up family members so that they can better deal with problems within their families.



There are too many grandparents that are looking after their grandchildren because the middle generation is off the rails on drugs.



RACHAEL BROWN: The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has told 3AW radio it's a losing battle, but Australia can't give up. He says state strike teams and national border protection units will continue to fight the problem.



TONY ABBOTT: We are ensuring that the war on drugs is fought as fiercely as we humanly can. It's not a war we will ever finally win. The war on drugs is a war you can lose – you may not ever win it, but you’ve always got to fight it.



RACHAEL BROWN: The Crime Commission says cannabis continues to dominate the illicit drugs market, with the numbers of seizures and arrests the highest reported in the last decade.



Cannabis accounted for 62 per cent of all seizures. Some argue it's an incredible amount of law enforcement dollars being spent, when other drugs might be causing more harm.



John Ryan says the community might be ready to consider different options for offenders, like diversion programs. And he's not ruling out decriminalisation.



JOHN RYAN: I think we've got to actually look at what's been happening in America, particularly with medical use of cannabis. And also in two jurisdictions, the community has voted to legalise. I think it's well worth keeping a keen eye on those developments to see what we can learn for Australia.



MARK COLVIN: The chief executive of the Pennington Institute, John Ryan, speaking to Rachael Brown.