Fiona Pickering felt compelled to take a stand to help her son, 16, and other people in the Wimmera, particularly children, who are addicted to illegal drugs.

Ms Pickering said her son’s problems started about two years ago.

“He started taking drugs through a girl he met,” she said.

“He was doing marijuana, then he started taking ice.

“He’s gone from stealing cars to shoplifting, burglaries and other things to support his habit.

“He has stolen a car and crashed it while on ice.”

Ms Pickering said her son, who the Mail-Times has chosen not to name, had faced court and been bailed several times.

“He has a curfew, but he doesn’t come home,” she said.

“They go on bail, then nothing happens. They go before a judge and just get placed on another curfew, or bailed again, and the cycle continues.

“These kids are then thinking, ‘we can do whatever we want because there are no consequences’. I’ve even tried to get my son remanded and sent away so I know he’s safe – that’s pretty hard as a parent.

“You don’t want to see your son locked up, but what other option do I have?

“It’s really scary for me and everyone else that something will go horribly wrong.”

Ms Pickering said the problems came to a head when her son collapsed a few weeks ago.

“He came home on Mother’s Day and couldn’t even talk. He didn’t know where he was or how he got home, and then he started getting aggressive with me, and he’s never done that before,” she said.

“He was telling our other children off, and he’s never done that either. They were devastated.

“When he’s not there they ask, ‘Is our brother in jail?’

“I worry I will go into his room one day and he won’t wake up.”

Ms Pickering said her son was a totally different person without drugs.

“When he isn’t taking drugs, he is the son I used to have,” she said.

“But it feels like I don’t have a son anymore – that’s how bad it is. 

“It keeps me up every night when I don’t know where he is.”

Ms Pickering  said she dreaded getting a phone call to say her son had died, or killed someone else while on drugs.

“My son’s drug and alcohol counsellor has told me all the drugs he is taking could cause severe brain damage and even death, and I’ve told my son this,” she said.

“But he doesn’t think it will happen to him. It’s so hard to watch your child go through it and think ‘will it sink in before it’s too late?'”

Ms Pickering said the issue was Wimmera-wide.

“So many young ones think the way to handle their problems is to turn to ice and pills, but it’s not,'' she said.

“There are people who can help.”

She said she did not know the answer to solving drug problems in the region, but raising awareness and communities working together was a critical starting point.

“I would love if everyone could get together and somehow try to stop all these drugs,” she said. 

“I don’t know how, but if police, parents going through this and residents could combine in a whole-of-community approach, it would make a difference, and we could get our kids back.”