Once again a desperate Shoalhaven mother has come forward to tell us of her harrowing struggle to get help for a teenage son who has spiralled into ice addiction. 

This boy is not yet 18 and that means there is no local service equipped to help him beat his addiction. In fact, the only place that was available – with a waiting period that proved just too long – was in Canberra. 

The sad reality is that the government in NSW has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to the ice epidemic sweeping the state’s regions, including ours. It is tempting to think that the usual raw deal dished out to regional Australia is at play here, that the cities get the lion’s share of funding, police resources and health care. 

We hope after the stories published in this paper and its sister publications across regional Australia that the politicians take note but, more importantly, take action. 

For the Shoalhaven, we implore the federal and state governments to act quickly and set up services for young people to get the ice monkey off their backs. We also strongly urge some kind of support mechanism be established for parents who are at their wit’s end battling this nightmare on their own. 

It’s time for co-ordinated action across the regions: enough police to crack the dealer networks and shut down the clan labs, detox and rehabilitation centres that are accessible to all, and support for families touched by ice addiction.

If we don’t act now, we risk losing an entire generation of young people to this evil drug.