Ice taskforce starts national tour in SA

A national taskforce investigating the ice epidemic will travel to a South Australian regional centre next week to hear first hand how the illicit drug is wreaking havoc on the local community.

Victoria's former top cop Ken Lay heads up the taskforce which will travel to Mount Gambier next week and then other centres across the country to speak with health workers, families, addicts and police.

"We want to know what is working, what isn't working and what more can be done," he said in a statement on Friday.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that a national campaign raising awareness about the dangers of ice use will begin this weekend.

"This is a drug which destroys lives, it smashes families, it damages communities and that's why it's so important that we take strong national action against it," Mr Abbott told reporters in Cairns on Friday.