By ALESHA CAPONE
A LANDMARK report has called for the West to get improved access to syringes, drug services and a supervised injecting facility, due to soaring demand.
The ‘No longer just an inner city issue’ drugs report was released at the Laverton Community Hub this Tuesday.
The report comes from the HealthWest Partnership, a network of health organisations and city councils.
The document said inner suburbs like Footscray have traditionally been viewed as a hub for injecting drug users but the problem now affects the entire West.
Last year 1.4 million syringes were distributed in the West – up from 630,000 syringes in 2002.
The report said demand for needles and syringes has increased in Brimbank and Wyndham by almost 200 per cent across the decade.
Opioid replacement therapy (ORT) requests have skyrocketed in the outer suburbs, growing 165 per cent in Wyndham and more than 390 per cent in Melton.
According to the report, access to injecting equipment and ORT across the West is “sparse and unevenly distributed” with some residents unable to access services.
In the West, injecting equipment is available at 34 sites – one primary Needle Syringe Program (NSP), six secondary NSPs and some pharmacies.
The report said in the West, a system of “formal peer distribution” for syringes should be established, plus a new NSP in Sunshine, a secondary NSP in Wyndham and more ORT providers in Melton.
The report also said a supervised injecting facility was needed in the West, with such venues in Sydney and Canada delivering reductions in overdoses and improved public amenity.
Les Twentyman, an outreach worker in the West for more than 30 years, said there was a “major drugs crisis” facing the area.
He said thousands of school suspensions and expulsions in the West, gang problems and high youth unemployment contributed to young people turning to drugs and alcohol.
Mr Twentyman said he established the 20th Man Fund charity to encourage children to stay at school and become involved with sport and arts.
“That’s why we deal with kids as young as 10 and eight, we want to stop them from becoming the junkies of tomorrow,” he said.
