The rural city has a higher per capita callout rate than larger centres such as Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.

The data is in a report by the Turning Point body that scrutinised trends in alcohol and drug-related ambulance calls in 2013-14.

Rotary Club of Wangaratta vice-president Dave Clark, whose organisation hosted a drug forum in March which attracted 120, was not shocked by the callout rate.

"It's not surprising, but it's a concern," Mr Clark said.

"Here in Wangaratta we've tried as a Rotary Club to get groups together and succeeded with Gateway Health and the police with a subcommittee set up to tackle the issue, but it's a slow process.

"There's not a lot we can do when we haven't got a lot of funding."

Mr Clark said the subcommittee was aiming to have a drug detox centre established in the North East.

Wangaratta was the only North East area listed among the top regional councils for ambulance callouts for ice.

It had nine calls in 2013-14, with its rate of 33.1 per 100,000 head of population placing it ahead of Bendigo (28.5), Ballarat (20.3) and Geelong (18.5).

Alcohol remained the most common trigger for substance-related callouts, with that category rocketing in Benalla from 28 in 2012-13 to 71 in 2013-14.

Wodonga had 85 alcohol-related calls, Wangaratta 80, Moira 73, Alpine 17, Indigo 15 and Towong 10.

Cannabis-linked calls were Wangaratta 15, Benalla 12 and Wodonga 10.

Antidepressant calls were Wodonga 13, Wangaratta 10 and Benalla 6, with antipsychotic cases for Wodonga 14 and Wangaratta 11.

Wangaratta led the North East for benzodiazepine calls with 26, followed by Wodonga (18), Benalla (11), Moira (9) and Alpine (5).

Most calls in the North East for over-the-counter painkiller problems came from Wangaratta (13), while Wodonga (12) topped the prescription painkiller category which covers drugs such as morphine and fentanyl.

An author of the report, Associate Professor Belinda Lloyd said the statistics were important in guiding the distribution of resources for drug and alcohol treatment across Victoria.

"If we don't have good data to show where resources should go we're really limited,” she said.

"Using this material we can see where we can a make a significant difference and which policies and positions do work."