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Dubbo Regional Council has hit out at the New South Wales government, warning the town is in desperate need of a drug rehab centre and can't afford to wait for a state inquiry to address the growing ice problem.
It's estimated that ice use in Dubbo has risen by more than 60 per cent in the past couple of years - six times the New South Wales average.
The number of people arrested for possession of amphetamines in the town is double the state average.
Councillor Stephen Lawrence says the town is in the midst of a 'crisis' in methamphetamine use.
Users are leaving a 'trail of destruction' says Dubbo Regional Councillor Stephen Lawrence. Source: The Feed
"These are people out there in their homes in their families in their communities leaving a trail of destruction and children in those families and communities are suffering," Lawrence told The Feed.
There's a significant roadblock to treatment: the nearest adult rehabilitation centre is more than 200 kilometres away.
Locals agree time is running out.
"I know of too many people who are in the cemetery. At the moment I'm caught up in a family tragedy so all this is very close to the bone for me."
Frank Doolan - better known around town as 'Riverbank Frank' - works at Dubbo's Apollo House community centre.
It's insidious, it's in community, it's not confined to one group either religious, ethnic, socio economic, it's not a racial thing it's not a black or a white issue.
Local Frank Doolan says the town needs an inquiry into drugs 'like it needs another drought'. Source: The Feed
Drug and alcohol worker Jimmy Forrest says people come to him seeking help - but he struggles to provide it.
"You chase up try and get them into the rehab but there's no beds available."
It's a devastating cycle, he tells The Feed.
"They get back on the drugs and then everything goes around in a circle again."
The promise of a purpose-built facility in Dubbo itself has hit a wall: the NSW state government.
A 2018 New South Wales Upper House inquiry into rural and regional rehabilitation services singled out Dubbo.
"They specifically recommended that a drug court be trialled and Dubbo have a significant boost to rehabilitation service," Stephen Lawrence told The Feed.
At the last election the Federal Government committed $3 million in funding for a Dubbo rehab centre. The local council has also offered land. However, any facility would have to be funded and managed by the state government - who are still waiting on the results of an inquiry before proceeding.
In June, Dubbo was chosen as one of five regional sites for a hearing of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug Ice. It was due to hand down it's final report in October, but has been granted an extension to January 2020.
State MP for the area, Nationals Dugald Saunders says he wants the Commission to tell him what the best solution is.
"There's no point in doing that and then coming up with solutions before the Commission has actually made it's recommendation," Saunders cautioned.
There are lots of questions to answer before we start whacking up a building.
But local representatives like Councillor Lawrence say given the circumstances, there's no point in waiting.
"I don't think the wheel is going to be reinvented in respect of rehabilitation."
Lawrence has criticised the state government for using the inquiry extension as a 'stalling tactic' to dodge responsibility.
"There is simply no excuses and we are calling on the State government to urgently act."
All we are calling for is what the community in the city already has.
Those on the front line of Dubbo's ice problem agree.
"We've been doing this for a long time, we just need to get some action going," says Jimmy Forrest.
Indigenous family health worker Jimmy Forrest says there are no beds available for addicts in rehabilitation centres. Source: The Feed
Riverbank Frank says the town needs action.
We need another inquiry into the ice epidemic like we need another ten year drought.
"Everybody knows we needed a suitable rehab facility here 30 years ago."
