Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione told Fairfax media the only way to “win” is to get people to stop taking the drug. 

“It’s driven by demand. If you brought tonnes and tonnes into the country and no one bought it, there would still be tonnes and tonnes left. Organised crime won’t bring in something they can’t sell.”

Commissioner Scipione said ice is a problem we all have to face.

“I know there are some that say we have to rethink this, well we do but that doesn’t mean we have to stop doing what we’re doing, we’ve got to do all we can to stop the tonnes of this poison getting on the streets.” 

“Some of the most important things we can do revolve around how families discuss this with each other, around the dinner table when they are talking one on one with each other.

“And they need to do it when the children are young. I remember when I was a kid it was cool to smoke, no one wore seat belts and everyone thought it was okay to have a drink and drive, but we had to educate people about the dangers of those things.”

Commissioner Scipione said we shouldn't underestimate the importance of families teaching their children good habits. 

“Educators – helping, backing up what’s been taught at home; health – making sure we are doing all we can to assist; and most importantly law enforcement have to keep their efforts going, and it’s got to be in support from the wider effort. 

“Supply and demand is supreme in this business,” he said.

“(Ice) can destroy families, you can tear the fabric of family so that it is almost not recoverable.

“You can destroy generations of harmony in a family in the blink of an eye. It’s a terrible, insidious drug.”

Commissioner Scipione said people who wouldn’t have otherwise had a mental health problem, get mental health problems from taking ice.

“With some drugs you have to have a predisposition to have a mental illness – not with this drug,” he said.

“It can take normal healthy people and turn them into psychotic, paranoid, crazy people. Police officers get injured trying to control superhuman strength, it takes its toll on everyone.” 

Commissioner Scipione said bringing down the dealers is always only going to be part of the solution, not the entire solution

“The real solution comes from mum and dad telling their kids and getting them to understand, like you do with your kids with smoking – you do this and this is going to really damage you.

“It might not be tomorrow, might not be in a year, but it will get you and when it does it could destroy you, you’re better than that and you want better than that.” he said parents should be telling their children. 

Commissioner Scipione said he appreciates those discussions between parents and their children are hard and confronting.

“But how much do you care about your kids? Do you care enough to confront them? I think that’s the discussion you need to have around that table,” he said.

The warning comes just two weeks after the Mudgee Local Area Command arrested and charged a 47-year-old Gulgong man for drug related offences.