05-05-2025
Disgusting moment man smokes a 'crack pipe' on packed Melbourne tram
A male passenger has been spotted openly smoking a 'crack pipe' on a packed tram during rush hour last week.
One commuter captured the disturbing image of the man brazenly smoking the drug on the 58 tram line headed to West Coburg, an inner Melbourne suburb, at 5.15pm last Thursday.
The man was seen smoking a substance from the 'crack pipe' in front of dozens of passengers, many of whom were children.
'I couldn't believe what I was seeing,' the female commuter said.
'This guy just lit up this crack pipe and started smoking it as if it was a cigarette.
'He was so blasé about it. He couldn't have cared less that there were young kids on the train.'
She added: 'He was taking up two seats and just kept puffing away. No one said or did anything. Even though the guy was young, I think people were worried what the reaction might have been.
'People smoking drugs can be erratic and capable of anything.'
The harrowing image comes after a report released in October 2024 showed that 547 Victorians died from overdose in 2023.
Men are on average twice as likely as women to die from overdose, and people aged between 35 and 54 are most at risk.
Metropolitan Melbourne accounts for approximately three-quarters of overdose deaths.
The figures, released by the Coroners Court of Victoria, are a very slight improvement to the 550 overdose deaths recorded in 2022, which was the highest annual number of overdoses deaths recorded in the past decade.
In 2023, the five top contributing drugs to overdose deaths were diazepam, with 213 deaths, heroin, with 204 deaths, methamphetamine, with 164 deaths, alcohol, with 153 deaths and pregabalin, with 78 deaths.
The annual number of methamphetamine-involved overdose deaths in Victoria more than tripled between 2014 and 2023 from 53 to 164 deaths.
The percentage of these deaths that involved methamphetamine alone was 15.5 per cent while 84.5 percent involved other drugs.
Judge John Cain, the Victorian State Coroner said: 'It is deeply troubling that 547 Victorians lost their lives to overdose last year.
'These deaths are preventable and we must strengthen our public health response and increase access to supports and treatment.
'Drug-related harms are complex and are driven by a variety of factors including changes in drug use, availability and regulation.
'That is why coronial data is so integral to understanding how best to target resources and save lives.'
