SHOALHAVEN LOBBYING FOR DRUG DETOX CENTRE

Young people were being sent as far as Orange and Wagga for drug abuse
treatment because of the lack of facilities in the Shoalhaven, Federal
Member for Gilmore Joanna Gash said yesterday.

She said the absence of services to help users overcome their
dependencies had resulted in community lobbying to establish a drug
detoxification and rehabilitation centre in the Shoalhaven.

Mrs Gash, who is part of the campaign, said there was a high number of
illicit drug users in the region who were missing out on help.

The community wanted a centre that would provide drug prevention and
education, in addition to a residential detoxification component and
rehabilitation.

``For too long we have put our heads in the sand and pretended this is
not happening,'' she said.

``There are no detoxification beds and we are finding we are having to
send kids as far away as Wagga and Orange in order to find them treatment.

``I have always maintained that if a kid comes to you and wants to
detox then we should be able to help them.

``I find it abhorrent that they have to wait sometimes up to five
weeks for treatment. By that stage, they could have well changed their
minds.''

Mrs Gash said there were detoxification beds in the Illawarra but the
northern service could not also meet the demands of Shoalhaven people.

However, Illawarra Area Health Service (IAHS) chief executive officer
Dr Tony Sherbon said he could not see the need for the establishment
of a residential drug detoxification program in the Shoalhaven in the
short term.

``We are conscious of the need we must provide a comprehensive
rehabilitation for drug users in the Shoalhaven,'' he said.

``But to establish a residential detox service you need a critical
mass of people to justify the service.

``The service is not just somewhere in which you can put someone away
for two weeks.''

Dr Sherbon said the IAHS had employed six extra full-time staff last
March to recruit Shoalhaven people with drug and alcohol problems into
rehabilitation programs.

Those who required detoxification in a residential setting were in the
minority, he said, and could detox at home or attend residential
services at Port Kembla and Berkeley.

Dr Sherbon said it would take $1.5million to build a detox centre. A
minimum capacity of 16 beds would involve ongoing costs of between
$1.2 and $1.5million a year.