Ice is in the media pretty often, so it's worth get a heads up on the facts.

Ice has become more and more common in Victoria. It's also known as meth, crystal, crystal meth, shabu, tina, glass, crank, yaba, or shard. After cannabis and alcohol it’s the third most commonly stated drug of concern for young people getting support from drug and alcohol services in Victoria.

Ice, or crystal methamphetamine, is an illegal stimulant. Basically that means it makes you feel really charged up. It comes as shards of crystal, often with different colours through it, and can be smoked, swallowed, snorted, injected or inserted anally (known as ‘shafting’ or ‘shelving’). It can also be heated on aluminium foil to inhale the vapours. Using Ice can give feelings of exhilaration and alertness as well as agitation, paranoia, and aggression. The intense high lasts four to twelve hours, and is often followed by a pretty severe comedown.

If you’ve had too much ice, you might feel pretty panicky, have difficulty breathing, or have a very high fever. You may even experience methamphetamine psychosis. An ambulance should be called if anything like this happens.

If you use ice then if nothing else, make sure you know these ways to be as safe as possible.