Scattered: The Inside Story of Ice in Australia [Hardcover]

Malcolm Knox (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia (January 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741753589
• ISBN-13: 978-1741753585
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars in every aspect, supurb!, December 4, 2008

By 

The Old Wise Man "Tim" (Toowoomba AUSTRALIA) - See all my reviews

SCATTERED
The Inside Story of Ice in Australia

Knox has separated this book into three chapters, "Going up", "The High" and "Coming Down". These aren't just clever names for the three sections of the book, but they are also in reference to the chronological evolution of the `ice age' itself, documenting the initial arrival and take up of the drug, the highs of the crisis and then the last few years when the government and society woke up to the problem and has started to successfully deal with it.
The story of ice in Australia is documented from every aspect, from the user, the abuser, the victims, the experts, the health workers and the politics, and he does so in a very impartial and unbiased manner.
Knox documents the initial creation and use of the drug way back of the turn of the century. He reveals that the drug was commonly used during WWII by all sides of the war as a `mind enhancer', Hitler himself it is claimed, was a full blown addict by the time he died, he used the drug as a way to deal with the stress of his inevitable defeat. Even a well known U.S. president and was given daily injections by his personal Physician.

The main thrust of this book is to reify the link between methamphetamine use and violence. And having seen the evidence put forth and the book, it seems as though Knox doesn't have to try real hard, or it may be that his research and writing style makes it seem so easy. Probably a bit of both.
Knox documents numerous examples of ice use leading to violence and sexual abuse, the greater the ice abuse the less restraint is exercised which resulted in the most lurid of violence. And knocks himself shows little restraint in his detailing of these crimes, but I suppose this is completely necessary for Knox to build his case, and he does so quite convincing.

The pervasive trait of all the extremely violent attacks is the motives. The initial impetus may sometimes involve hate and anger, but the sheer ferocity is almost always explained by the perpetrator as having just "freaked out". Even in the numerous cases of the victims just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, extreme violence, often even after the victim is incapacitated, results in the same motive being used; freaking out due to paranoia. Even the perpetrator finds it hard to believe in hindsight, the sheer ferocity that they used.

Knox shows in detail how the drug chemically affects the brain and achieves the high, the crash and the inevitable brain damage. While science still has a lot to learn about the trunk and how to treat it, principally because of the short amount of time that it has been around. Knox shows how far society has come in dealing with ice in the decade since it has reared its ugly head.

Written in a thoroughly engaging style, Scattered has a superb mix of personal interviews and research to document every aspect of the aptly named "ice age". I can think of no criticisms for this book (which is quite rare), so I have no qualms about giving this book a full five stars.