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Ice Destroys Everyone. If You're Messing With It, Stop

It is the devil.
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Rapper 360, aka Matt Colwell.
Tim Bauer via Fairfax
Rapper 360, aka Matt Colwell.

With my drug issues, my poison was mainly opiates. OxyContin 80mg, sometimes heroin and, a lot of the time, codeine -- when I couldn't get the Oxy. I was also a f**king party animal... it was stupid.

I used to idolise people such as Anthony Kiedis and Mötley Crüe, and all I wanted was to be was a rock star and live that life. I actually lived that life and it was so much fun, at the start. Although my poison was opiates, I'd be down for anything and everything. Coke, MDMA, benzos, acid, shrooms, DMT, speed and the monster itself... meth.

I was never a huge ice smoker; it wasn't my drug of choice. But it was either that or coke. Coke in Australia is terrible and costs a fortune, and ice, while expensive, lasts days on end. I loved going on benders, so I used to smoke it a LOT. It never reached an everyday thing for me though... as long as I had my Xanax and Oxy there was no such thing as a comedown so I was always down for it if others were, too.

Out of all the drugs out there, there is one that is leagues ahead of every other drug in every way and that is ice. It's the most addictive by far. Some people I know who are constant users manage to still function and lead a semi-normal life. That's extremely rare though.

The majority of the people I know who use the shit end up doing it so much and for so long that they never come back. I've seen the most polite, well mannered guy turn f**king crazy and become the complete opposite; a very scary, out-of-control dude from two years of smoking ice alone.

It destroys everyone.

Out of everyone I know who has tried to quit, I think 90 percent haven't been able to stay off it. I only know a few people who have fully cut it out of their lives, but it took years of hard work and many relapses, losing a lot of friends and family in the process.

It is the devil.

I really do love this country, but the effect ice is having on it is very noticeable and scares the shit out of me. The fact that, in most rural towns, you can probably find ice more easily than you can find weed, says something. I know some people have had to move to another country because it's everywhere here and if you're an addict it can be impossible to escape.

When I was young, people would pass around a joint at parties, maybe a rolled-up note for some coke or 'X' to snort. These days people are passing around pipes.

If you're messing with the pipe and don't think it's an issue... personally I think you should stop. Once you cross that line, it's one of the hardest things to ever come back from.

I've been clean for nearly two years. Ice wasn't even my poison, but it's the only drug that I still get cravings for. I've seen it single-handedly tear whole families apart, where people have lost literally everything and STILL can't stop.

If you are struggling with it, seek help. Open up to your family and also tell your friends. Get professional help, too. It's not something you can beat on your own. Don't be ashamed either. Being open and admitting it is a huge deal and is respectable. It takes balls.

These government-funded anti-ice campaigns are f**king terrible, though. They have zero idea that simply showing a picture of a pipe will have every addict itching. Even just looking at the glass pipe literally sets them off, it's THAT bad. I guarantee that there's people out there who saw that advertisement and it caused them to go and score.

Being an ice addict in recovery is kinda like being in the cast of The Walking Dead but in real life. The zombies are current ice addicts and the unaffected people are the addicts in recovery. The zombies/addicts are f**king everywhere. You have to avoid them at any cost, because even a tiny nibble will turn you into one of them again. Run for your f**king life!

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