7NEWS Spotlight

The epidemic of drug abuse in Australia is showing no signs of slowing, with two million Australians battling addictions and the number of fatal overdoses almost doubling in two decades.

Shalom House is the fastest-growing rehab centre in the country.

Its controversial founder, Peter Lyndon-James, is an ex-con and rehabilitated addict who claims he has the answer to Australia's worsening drug crisis and the cure for all kinds of addicts.  

He says his tough-love, labour-based unconventional service is helping men, women and – increasingly – children to rebuild their lives. And Shalom House is overflowing. By any measure, there are just too many residents.

But not everyone is a fan of his methods. Some say Shalom House, which has earned the reputation as Australia's toughest rehab centre, is like a cult and that residents are really inmates in a religious prison.

Now, in a 7NEWS Spotlight exclusive, Peter Lyndon-James and Shalom House have granted access-all-areas to Seven's crime reporter Ben Harvey.

Also on the show, after the Albanese Government's $243 million crackdown on vapes, has it actually worked? Eight months into the national ban on all illegal vape imports, 7NEWS Spotlight takes to the streets to discover we are still far from busting the underworld hold on this crooked industry.

And don't miss a very special exclusive interview with UK boy band royalty, Take That, as they prepare to tour Down Under.