Young Oz women doing dangerous 'ice' to lose weight

Melbourne, Sept 26 : Young Australian women are turning to powerful street drug ice in a bid to shed extra pounds, a shocking new study has revealed.

The scary trend has come to surface in the current issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

According to Sydney University professor Suzanne Abraham, one of the report authors, women are not only risking developing an eating disorder but also addiction to the destructive drug.

Professor Abraham said ice, or crystal methamphetamine, was like a supercharged version of the ordinary weight loss pill, which contains ephedrine, but people did not get addicted to the ordinary pills.

"Ice use is increasing in young women and is being used as an efficient method of weight loss," Couriermail quoted her, as saying.

"The drug may also trigger the development of an eating disorder in some people," she added.

The latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures show that in 2004, 3.2 per cent of Australians aged 14 and older had used amphetamines for non-medical purposes in the past year and 38 per cent of this group reported the drug they used as ice.

All three women admitted to the clinic had used ice daily and showed a range of withdrawal symptoms, tolerance and dependence.

One of them, aged 21, refused to leave her house, smoking ice and exercising excessively.

ANI