Working on the issue for 25 years across the United Kingdom and Australia, and now with the Penington Institute, Mr O’Mahony says the focus on the issue needs to be shifted.

“We need to start treating this as a health issue rather than a battle, or as a crime issue,” he said.

“That’s not to say there isn’t a place for law and order in this, but the police in Victoria themselves have said you can’t arrest your way out of a problem like drugs.

“It affects far more people than we think, for all sorts of reasons.”

Mr O’Mahony was in Wodonga on Wednesday to deliver training to Gateway Health workers, as part of the Victorian government’s Ice Action Plan.

“Were trying to support the needle and syringe program workers, because most in Victoria are not trained alcohol and drug workers, they’re the people behind the front desk,” he said.

“They’ve been asking how they can support people accessing their programs and how to identify problems, because they want to help their community.”

Gateway Health provides free sterile equipment to injecting drug users and conducts safe collection.

Needle and syringe access worker Ryan Howard said clients also received advice and referral to other supporting programs like Hepatitis C treatments and counselling.

“Through the needle syringe program I have seen clients connect to services, and be able to share their story in a safe, confidential environment which serves to empower them in their path to recovery,” he said.

Mr O’Mahony said the issue was growing – with ice-related ambulance attendances in regional Victoria rising from 94 in 2012 to 467 in 2015 – and changing.

“Injecting is becoming more of a thing and more people are dying of overdose per 100,000 in the country than in the cities,” he said.

“We have to make sure the people who are struggling get the support they need, whether that’s for the people using drugs themselves or the people around them being affected by it.”