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DUBBO drug and alcohol worker is calling for better education and support to tackle the region's ice epidemic, with children as young as eight already caught up in the cycle.
Nguumambiny Indigenous Corporation CEO manager Lynn Field is organising a drug and alcohol forum in Dubbo next month, and said the community needs to be the solution to the scourge.
"This ice epidemic is a result of kids who were never educated or who never had the life that maybe you and I did," Ms Field said.
"They say 'well we teach the kids about this in high school'.
"By high school, most of the people I come in contact with, they've already tried it. They're dealing it.
"You know at eight and 10, the 14-year-old brother, sister, cousin, whatever, has got them dropping off the deals because they're too young to get charged."
It's the second forum to be held in Dubbo, with members of Dubbo's legal sector making up the bulk of the participants at the first forum in April.
Ms Field said she is hoping to have a greater range of participants this time around.
"We're hoping to get some feedback in regards to the need for support for families of drug addicts," she said.
"Basically it's about the community having a voice, to speak about their concerns because there's a lot of ignorance when it comes to addiction."
Ms Field has called on Dubbo MP Troy Grant to attend the forum on December 7, and said she has plans to meet with him the following day.
"I want him to see the real side of this, not the police side of this," Ms Field said.
"There are people suffering that aren't bad people. There's grandparents who have been assaulted by their grandkids for money, they're not the criminals so why turn it into a criminal matter?"
"We need to get these young ones the help they need to [clean up]."
The Drug and Alcohol Forum will be held from 6pm until 9pm on Monday, December 7 in the Starlight Room at the Dubbo Memorial RSL Club.