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It seems that one cannot watch the news, or read a newspaper story, in Australia without hearing of the new super drug ‘Ice‘ – or methamphetemine – which is apparently taking the country by storm.

Its all ice this, ice that, ice the other. Ice ice ice. Icey ice ice ice. But where has all this come from? It’s as if journalists love to use ‘street names’ or terminology from popular culture to show they are ‘down with the kids’ or something.

A similar thing happened in the UK a couple of years ago with ‘chavs.’ For a while there in the papers, and on TV, it was all about chavs. Chavvy chavs doing chavvy stuff and generally chavving about in a happy-slapping frenzy, filming all their malicious chaviness on a mobile phone and bluetoothing it direct to news agencies as fast as their chav thumbs could operate.

This situation soon got out of hand. Deeply middle class people (students in particular) began ‘ironically’ dressing as chavs, casting aside their Che Guevara t-shirts and instead opting for white socks pulled over Adidas tracksuits. Everywhere one looked was a Burberry cap at a rakish angle. In their efforts to be ‘funky’ these middle class people eventually killed off the useless chav label.

Undoubtedly, the same thing will happen with ‘Ice’. It is as if journalists are actually promoting the drug, by opting for the cool sounding name rather than focusing on it’s harmful effects and the massive problem of the ease with which using the drug leads to addiction.

This has happened before. Cocaine in the British tabloids (and the broadsheets follow suit) is not cocaine – it is ‘charlie’ or ‘snort’ or some other cool term. Are they being responsible? Probably not. But at least we all know that whoever wrote the story is well abreast of the latest names for really cool drugs. Which is comforting.

I have a big problem with names and labels. For example, on hearing my accent, I’m usually asked whether I’m travelling, or, even worse, whether I am “a traveller.” This is worse, because where I come from a ‘traveller’ is generally someone who lives in a tin-pot caravan – parked on someone else’s land, uninvited – with several feral children and dogs (and sometimes some physics defyingly ugly horses), who doesn’t have a job and has questionable income streams. These people are also sometimes called ‘pikeys’, or even ‘gypsies’ though I believe these terms are somewhat derogatory, or even offensive.

I was thinking about this today, when another story came on the radio in the car about ice. Why do they never consider why people take drugs?

Lets look at the evidence. Ice is used most prevalently by people in their 20s, according to these reports (i.e. people in my age range), so what is it with them that makes them want to blast themselves with a drug which by all accounts “makes you feel happy and full of energy.” I’ll give you a clue. It’s because they are unhappy. And tired.

I could probably have a good guess at the type of people who are the biggest users of such a drug. So I will. They probably work long hours in a deeply unfulfilling and boring job, and are single. They are a product of our society, not what is wrong with it. A symptom, rather than a cause, of social degeneration and a lack of community generally. They are also – the cases we hear about in the news – not characterised by being predominantly male or female. It goes across the board.

When I heard this radio report, I was driving back from North Sydney, having dropped Linda at work. I soon put a CD in. For some reason, when I drove over a bridge from Gladesville, and one of the many inlets in Sydney was exposed, with the skyscrapers of the CBD in full view, in glorious sunlight, I had something of an epiphany. I felt deeply satisfied and incredibly happy. Just from seeing a nice view for twenty seconds as I drove past. And I don’t have a job, I’m ill, and I’m pretty tired.

So, next time someone asks me “are you travelling?” I’ll tell them, no.  I was. Then I got here.