Byron Bay is one of Australia’s most popular holiday destinations and a second home to the likes of Miley Cyrus, the Hemsworth brothers and Nicole Kidman.
But locals say the idyllic beachside enclave on the New South Wales north coast is on the brink of destruction at the hands of a methamphetamine epidemic.
There are fears a lethally strong batch of the highly-addictive drug is being sold in the town after a spate of violent – and often bizarre – crimes.
‘A week ago I was up for four nights… It’s that strong here… the way it pumps me up, I’ll take on the whole army,’ one Byron local told The Daily Telegraph.
Byron Bay is being torn apart by a methamphetamine epidemic, according to locals
There are fears a lethally strong batch of the highly-addictive drug is being sold in the beachside town
He said the drug was sold in the town at half the price of capital cities.
Another addict said scoring drugs in Byron was as easy as ordering a takeaway meal over the phone.
‘I just started (ice) six to eight months ago… They get some pretty good stuff up here,’ he said.
On Christmas night, a naked Canadian tourist, who police said was high on ice, was arrested after running down the middle of a busy Byron street.
He threw himself into a police car, shattering the windscreen on impact, before he began headbutting a window as two officers sat inside the vehicle.
A naked Canadian tourist, who police said was high on ice, threw himself into this police car
One addict said scoring drugs in the town was as easy as ordering takeaway (stock image)
Police tasered the 23-year-old to no effect, before his friends finally helped the two officers subdue him.
Earlier, a 15-year-old Byron boy – again naked – was also arrested after running down the street and terrorising passers by.
‘They’re the incidents that were reported to police. I have no doubt there would be more,’ Tweed-Byron Police duty officer chief inspector Luke Arthurs told the paper.
‘One girl that we searched in a drug operations a couple of months ago had ice, cocaine and cannabis on her… it’s a never-ending job for police.’
One addict said the drug was sold in the town at half the price of capital cities. Pictured, Byron Bay’s iconic lighthouse
One Byron Bay local said the town was ‘being absolutely destroyed’ by ice (stock image)
Community activist Sue Arnold said the town was ‘being absolutely destroyed’ by meth.
‘As a veteran of the hippie culture, we used to think having a joint was fun… I have never seen the kind of incidents caused (now) by ice, being caused by cannabis,’ she told the Telegraph.
Last week, two naked men were caught having sex on the sand 400 metres from a nudist beach in Byron.
Police put out a warning they were taking a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to people caught without their clothes on outside nudist beaches.
‘We’ve had people being attacked in those areas, there’s been a number of sex assaults, so we believe this will reduce incidents of violence,’ Insp Arthurs told The Northern Star.