Three sons addicted to meth
Bunbury mother Julie Kent shares her story of living with three sons addicted to methamphetamine. Audio: 882 6PR.
PT1M40S 620 349A Bunbury mum has told her extraordinary and harrowing story of living with three sons addicted to methamphetamine.
Julie Kent said her world was upturned five weeks ago when her youngest son, Jackson, rang her after a "meth meltdown".
"He rang me in the middle of the night and said 'you've got to find me somewhere to go, you've got to get me out of here," she told Radio 6PR on Monday morning.
Ice, or crystal methamphetamine, is a highly addictive drug.
"I got him into a safe place with a friend. Now we are going through the process of what happens next."
Ms Kent said Jackson's life completely unravelled after he started taking meth 18 months ago.
"They become irrational, they become violent, they can't work, they don't sleep, they don't eat, they go from being a healthy person to a dysfunctional person very quickly," she said.
Julie Kent believes the south west of WA is gripped by a meth epidemic. Photo: Facebook
"It progressed to Jackson losing his home, losing his partner, losing access to his child, losing his job and losing his health.
"That's the scary part with meth, it only has to be one or two times and then they are addicted."
She said her oldest son Stephen had been using meth for 10 years.
"I'm terrified as a mum I will bury him, which is heartbreaking, which is why I'm making this noise," she said.
"We are a normal family, we are not the dregs of society, my husband has a good job, I have a good job and we work really hard. Our kids were brought up in a normal home in a loving environment."
Ms Kent said she's seen all her three sons become violent and aggressive while on ice.
"I've been absolutely terrified, I've been with them when they want money, they become really aggressive and really frightening," she said.
"You don't recognise your own children anymore.
"They all say it was peer group pressure to begin with at a party or something, then very quickly they've got this terrible problem."
She said a methamphetamine epidemic was a gaining a foothold across the Bunbury region.
"It's not just kids as well, it's adults, it's families and it's so easy to get," she said.
"There are actually social media websites where your child can get on there and they can have this drug delivered into your drive way."
Ms Kent posted a picture of herself on her Facebook page last week saying this is a face of a mum with a son addicted to meth.
The post has been shared more than 7800 times.
"This post is for all my young FB friends", she wrote on Facebook.
"I hate this photo! I look crappy, old and exhausted !! Coz I am . This is the face of a mum who will spend Thursday in court with her son . Lots of you know him as a mate or went to school together, you hung at our place with him . He's a great guy . Funny , engaging a good kid . Except on meth !! Then he's scary , angry ! Unemployed ,irrational Sick cover..." [sic]
Ms Kent has since been contacted by the people behind the Facebook group Ice in Bunbury. A Mother's Nightmare and they have started a committee to battle meth.
"We all got to tell our story and meet survivors so from that we have started a committee and what we are trying to do is get education into the highs schools," Ms Kent said.
"So we are getting them really young and making them actually understand what this drug does."
8 comments so far
New user? Sign up
Make a comment
You are logged in as [Logout]
All information entered below may be published.
Thank you
Your comment has been submitted for approval.
Comments are moderated and are generally published if they are on-topic and not abusive.