The head of a corporation fighting the drug ice in Dubbo and western NSW says harsher penalties for dealers are a "great start" but warns there will be a fallout and that more needs to be done.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Changes to the state's drug laws took effect on Tuesday, raising the maximum penalty for manufacturing or possessing a "commercial quantity" of methylamphetamine from 20 years to life imprisonment.
The changes announced by attorney general Gabrielle Upton and assistant minister for health Pru Goward also halved the threshold for "large commercial quantities" of ice from one kilogram to 500 grams.
Nguumambiny Indigenous Corporation chief executive officer Lynn Field said she agreed with raising the penalties but called it a "Band-aid" and for the long-term picture to be looked at.
She said "unless we deal with" the issues that led to people using drugs, it was "wasting time".
There was a correlation between childhood trauma and addiction, and a generation's issues had been ignored, she said.
Ms Field, who launched Nguumambiny Indigenous Corporation about two years ago, reported having clients who "use ice to feel numb".
"They shouldn't have to feel numb," she said.
Ms Field also warned of a fallout from the changes to the laws.
She said there needed to be more rehabilitation centres if users were to suddenly find themselves without a supply of the substance.
"Someone going off ice is not something for the family home," she said.
Detoxification beds were needed in local hospitals, and then people needed to be able to go to rehabilitation, she said.
Ms Field also asked how many "idiots" were going to try to make their own supply of ice if it was not available elsewhere, which she said could result in children being exposed to toxic chemicals.
On Monday Ms Field was the invited facilitator of a meeting at Warren, attended by about 30 people including local police, schools, community members and the Land Council.
She said the session had been to empower people and looked at strategies, available support family members of users, and how to get action in the community.
"The motto was if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem," she said.
They would meet again in six weeks.
Ms Upton said on Monday the government was taking decisive action to meet community expectations.
"Drug manufacturers and dealers, particularly those involved in ice, profit from the misery and misfortune of others," she said.
Some members of the legal and drug rehabilitation sectors have criticised the changes, with criminal law expert Stephen Odgers, SC, saying it would increase the burden on the state's already overcrowded prisons without having a deterrent effect.
