And while the residents said they were reluctant to report the group to police because the users of ice, or methylamphetamine, were not affecting other people, Mrs Sudmalis reminded them how dedicated North Nowra family man and charity fundraiser Scott Morrison was killed in a car accident last year caused by a person who was affected by ice, and also died in the collision.

Mrs Sudmalis told an ice forum in Ulladulla on Wednesday night she questioned the residents about whether they would be safe on the village’s roads, adding they needed to report the group to police.

“There is no excuse for not standing up for your community,” she told the forum attend by about 120 people.

The importance of reporting matters to police was one of the key messages emphasised during the forum in the Ulladulla Civic Centre.

State Member for South Coast, Shelley Hancock, said people were often frustrated when they did not see immediate results after reporting suspicious activity to police.

However the series of ice raids in the northern Shoalhaven last week were prompted by tip-offs from the community, which prompted “a huge amount of work” by police over seven months to gather evidence.

“It’s hard detective work, it’s hard police work,” Mrs Hancock said.

As she urged people to support the police Mrs Hancock said, “Please don’t be frustrated if you report it and nothing happens the next day or the next week.”

Senior Constable Tony Jory told the gathering every call was followed up, and a single call in September, 2012 resulted in police seizing 585kg of ice before it hit the streets.

He said there was anecdotal evidence in the Shoalhaven of offences being committed by ice addicts turning to crime to get the money needed to fund their habits.

“It’s mainly the addicts doing the break and enters,” Senior Constable Jory said.

Credit card theft was also a bug issue, particularly with the move towards tap and go cards, and Senior Constable Jory told of an incident just a couple of weeks ago in which a women’s credit card was stolen and two men used it to purchase about $3000 of goods before she even realised the card was missing.

Another issue police faced when dealing with ice addicts was violence, Senior Constable Jory said, because “they will fight” and “they’re super human”.

“If they’re really going for it you really need four or five officers to sit on them,” he said.

That was not just in the arrest, but also if addicts needed medical treatment for psychosis and police had to be there to help protect medical staff.

Emergency Department Doctor Andrew Bezzina said treating ice addicts was “a bit like dealing with a naked flame near petrol”, and once or twice a week staff had to restrain people – often using more medication that created their own risks.

In the process ice damaged so many organs including the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys and even teeth, leading to a syndrome referred to as “meth mouth”.

Just two days earlier Dr Bezzina had to treat a young man who suffered a stroke because of his ice use, while he had also seen comas, seizures, heart attacks, chronic brain damage and chronic psychosis because of the drug.

While the evening heard many warnings about ice use, Mrs Sudmalis tried to focus on solutions and ways forward, with groups putting down ideas that will form part of a submission to the National Ice Taskforce.

Ideas focused on better education for young people about the dangers of the drug, better communication from the public, more stringent control of chemicals used to manufacture drugs, and also putting resources into social services to ensure yoiung people did not feel the need to turn to drugs

Part of the solution, according to solicitor and former social worker Renata Matyear, could lie is setting up a drug court in the Shoalhaven to deal with underlying addictions causing people to commit crimes, and referring people to intensive treatment to get off drug and out of the cycle of drugs, depression, crime, courts, jail and death.

In the meantime ice is “absolutely destroying whole families,” according to Sue Adams from the Schizophrenia Fellowship in Ulladulla.

“Is it affecting our local community? Well, yes,” she said.