The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures which show you're twice as likely to die from an accidental drug overdose in the Shoalhaven than you were 10 years ago are sobering. They overturn the widely held notion that drug overdoses are a uniquely big-city problem.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
So what accounts for the change? According to the Penington Institute's cheif executive officer John Ryan, the prevalence of methamphetine or ice is a major contributing factor.
For the past decade and a half, we have watched the ice epidemic take a grip on regions like our own. Week on, week out, we see the local courts packed with defendants facing charges relating to ice possession or dealing.
We've seen community forums call for action - better policing but, more importantly, rehab facilties - and heard from parents, whose heartbreaking stories tell us how devastating ice addiction can be, not just for the addict but for the people around them.
When the NSW Ice Inquiry heard evidence in Nowra in June, it was presented with harrowing evidence about the drug's effect on families.
Amanda Jamieson, NSW Department of Family and Community Services South Coast manager, was one of those who gave evidence, painting a very grim picture.
In the 12 months to April 2019, she said, of the 52 children who had been removed and placed in out of home care in the Nowra district - 34 of those had one or more parents who were using mainly crystal meth (ice).
She spoke about the drain on her staff, who fearing for their own safety, often had to attend homes in pairs.
And because of multi-generational drug use, children could often not be placed with relatives because they, too, posed a risk.
The Penington Institute points squarely at the lack of drug treatment facilities in regional Australia for the doubling of drug overdose deaths.
It also says the longer wait times for ambulances played a role in these worrying figures.
When it comes to health funding, regions like the Shoalhaven often get the scraps after the lion's share goes to the bigger population centres.
The ABS figures demonstrate there is a clear need to see more drug rehabilitation funding channelled to the regions where it's needed the most. We can't afford to see more preventable tdeaths.