Cr Dickerson made the comment at Saturday's Community Leaders Breakfast held at the Church Street Rotunda on Saturday morning at which he, Parkes MP Mark Coulton and Dubbo MP Troy Grant met with members of the community to answer questions and hear their concerns.

Mr Coulton, Mr Grant Troy Grant and Cr Dickerson all spoke to the Daily Liberal in relation to the topical substance abuse problem.

While Mr Grant and Mr Coulton both acknowledged there to be a prominent issue in Dubbo in relation to the drug ice, Cr Dickerson called for a broader drug problem to be recognised not just in Dubbo, but across Australia.

"We don't have a specific ice problem in Dubbo," Cr Dickerson said.

"Alcohol is the number one problem."

Cr Dickerson said statistics had shown Australians to abuse alcohol more than any other drug.

"The focus on ice is ignoring the whole nation's substance abuse issue," he said.

Deputy Premier and Member for Dubbo Troy Grant said he was pleased with the effort made within the 45 per cent increase in ice detection methods made by the law enforcement.

Mr Grant said the next thing to do was to tackle the use and effects of the illicit substance, with a need for services to be made available to users.

While Mr Coulton agreed there was a need to boost local services for ice users, he said there was also a need to provide education on the substance to encourage people not to manufacture or purchase it.

"Encouraging people not to buy could in the long term stop the problem."

"Ice is a stimulant whereas a lot of others out there are sedatives," he said.

"People are often subjected to drugs when they're at a vulnerable stage of their life, so they need to be given the information before that happens."

Mr Coulton said also needed to be a designated approach when dealing with the people who were caught using.