"Embarrassing" is the word clinicians from the Royal Flying Doctor Service have used to describe the lack of help available for residents battling ice addiction in country communities.
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More rehabilitation centres need to be built and courts should send drug users into mandatory treatment centres instead of prison, the clinicians also said in a written submission to the ice inquiry that visited Dubbo last week.
"Ice is a reality of life in 2019; you will not eradicate its use as it is cheap and easy to access," Leyna Howard, Andrew House and Vanessa Latham said.
"Harm minimisation and education need to be at the forefront of the measures put in to these communities to educate them on the potential risks of harm should they choose to participate in its use."
The clinicians suggested more counselling, mentoring and support groups would help reduce the harmful effects of ice.
Models of care that acknowledge "a lot of drug use stems from a past trauma which is generational and is as we speak being passed down to a new generation as an appropriate method for coping with their own trauma" were needed, they said.
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The stigma around ice use should be also be addressed.
"[We need to] acknowledge addiction, problematic and dependent drug use as a health issue that can be treated," the clinicians said.
"Send a message of hope, not the advertising of an ice crazed addict going crazy in a hospital waiting room".
Family and Community Services officer Teena Bonham appeared before the inquiry and in a written statement she also said a mix of measures are needed to address ice use.
"The challenge is that there are very few specialist drug and alcohol services available, and what services are available are often at full capacity; the demand outweighs the supply," she said.
"There needs to be...a collaborative approach including a criminal justice response, early intervention and prevention, education and awareness, recovery including residential rehabilitation programs, also transition from residential to day programs and ongoing recovery maintenance."
A final report from the ice inquiry is due to be handed to the NSW government by the end of the year.
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton has secured $3 million to go towards building a drug rehab facility in Dubbo.
Before the NSW election in March the now state member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders said he supported "a drug court and rehab centre for Dubbo" but the government has not committed to building or operating either facility.