Finding out an employee has a problem with drugs does not have to be a reason to sack the person, but rather a chance to offer support.
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This is the changing attitude the Wangaratta Local Drug Action Team is hoping can start to occur in the North East, both for the good of those involved in risky drug use and the region's businesses.
They want to remove the stigma that has been attached to Wangaratta since the city's links to methamphetamine over recent years.
The project has been branded "Beyond Ice", in recognition that drug use extends past methamphetamine, to alcohol and other substances.
It brings health, education and police organisations together to tackle the problem, in ways beyond just arresting those involved with drugs.
The best thing we can do for people in recovery is break down the stigma of being someone who takes problematic drugs, so there's less pressure.
- Tammy Atkins, Beyond Ice
Communications officer Tammy Atkins said since the LDAT started work in 2015, it had only received positive feedback to taking the new approach.
"The best thing we can do for people in recovery is firstly break down the stigma of being someone who takes problematic drugs so there's less pressure to put your hand up and say 'I need a hand' ... There can be that feeling of isolation and almost an embarrassment attached to it," she said.
"It's like mental health was 10 years ago, problematic drug use is just in that space.
"This is our community, we need to support these people. The answer is employment and/or education."
She said there was often a knee-jerk reaction from employers faced with the problem, but Beyond Ice was about to start talking to businesses about their "corporate social responsibility" of giving people a second chance.
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Clyde Hawkins said Fitweld Engineering was like many other businesses, describing it as "a snapshot of the community", with many workers who do not use drugs, but some who do.
"I saw, from my point of view as an employer, a need to become familiar with drug use and the habits and traits of people who use drugs because we suspected that a number of our employees were using in a recreational sense, mainly cannabis more than anything else," he said.
"I saw that it was an absolute essential.
"It doesn't matter what business you're in ... I can bet that there will be someone within the organisation that does have, has had or will have an issue with problematic drugs at some stage."
Mr Hawkins also has plans to introduce random drug testing at his business, to be conducted independently, starting in the next 12 months.
The Beyond Ice campaign is supported by The Centre, Wangaratta's adult education organisation.
Board chair Rob Carolane said it was also important to help people who might struggling to get into education.
"Ice is not the cause, the cause is social dysfunction and people's needs," he said.
"When people are taking the first steps on their recovery journey there needs to be as few barriers as possible."
While methamphetamine use has attracted attention in recent years, police and health services agree that alcohol is the drug, albeit a legal one, that continues to cause the most issues.
Gary Croton from Albury Wodonga Health specialises in mental health and said the harms caused by alcohol and ice were undeniable, but needed to be addressed collaboratively.
"We're really looking towards what can we do to contribute to happier lives for everybody who's affected by these range of substances," he said.
"One of the fundamental issues all the way through has been the stigma association with problematic drug use, recognising that it really impacts on people accessing treatment in a timely fashion - it leads to a whole lot more harms.
"Once you're off the bus it's really hard to get back on the bus, like with employment."
It is not only young people who have problems with drugs, and the stigma and embarrassment can make it hard to get help for a substance use disorder.
"Suddenly you're one of those people to think 'I love this drug, it's fantastic, it does all these things for me' and your use just skyrockets," Mr Croton said.
"Then you wake up one day and think, 'this is getting away from me, this is a real problem, I really need some help with this'.
"You're not so likely to go along to your GP, particularly in a rural area where you may be playing squash with the GP, and say 'I've got a real issue with this'."
Ms Atkins said there are many LDATs in different areas tackling drug issues in their own way, but Wangaratta's was unique and that was reflected in the Victorian government decision to choose the city as the Hume location for a residential rehabilitation centre, due to open in 2021.
"The way we're doing it for our community is really working for us and it's certainly getting recognised that way," she said.
Feeling safe is crucial, says police inspector
Inspector Kerrie Hicks has something to clear up: Wangaratta is not the ice capital of Australia.
The top police officer in the city has also been a member of the Local Drug Action Team and is on board with reducing the stigma and sometimes harmful way people talk about drug use.
"It can reduce perceptions of safety - I know that Wangaratta and the surrounding areas is a really safe place. Making sure people feel safe is critical for their wellbeing," she said.
"Police have a role in tackling alcohol and other drugs and associated issues, and we will always have a role to play in terms of enforcement.
"But our real preference is to work with all the community lead agencies around that upstream, early intervention, primary prevention end.
"Ultimately we don't want people getting into the criminal justice system, it really limits people's options down the track."
The three Wangaratta drug syndicates shut down by police between 2012 and 2016, which reaped huge profits for drug dealers, has been credited as good police work, rather than a particular issue in the North East.
Inspector Hicks said police would continue to target "mid-level drug traffickers", as that is where the law can do the most to reduce harm.
"We really want to target those that are financially benefiting off vulnerable people," she said.
"That's where we're always really interested in hearing from the community about any information that we can follow up with investigation because that's the area we say we can impact and reduce harm."
But that was only one part of the solution.
Wangaratta police are supportive of the Beyond Ice campaign, looking at the bigger picture of why people turn to drugs and what can be done to support their recovery.
"Ultimately we're trying to build self-care so that people don't have to find themselves in really difficult situations," Inspector Hicks said.
"How do we work with people around self-esteem and social inclusion and community connectedness and reducing isolation?
"All those areas we know if people are really connected and have strong resilience models, we know that they won't be as vulnerable."
The approach of early intervention also applied for mental health and family violence issues.
Part of the Beyond Ice campaign has been to create brochures with advice for families wanting to offer support when someone is arrested and legal advice outlining what happens at court.
Inspector Hicks said family members are often surprised when their loved ones end up in legal trouble because of drugs.
"The reality is we're all human beings and we're all fallible and these things can happen, but there's lots of things we can do individually, but also as a community as neighbours, as family members, as friends to intervene a lot earlier," she said.
She agreed that alcohol was the biggest substance issue leading to crime and challenged parents to think about the damage it could be doing to children who are drinking while their brains and bodies are still developing.
Chance for businesses to look at drug polices
If businesses are not sure how they would respond if drug use became an issue at their workplace, the Beyond Ice team want to help.
A breakfast will be held in Wangaratta on April 16 featuring consultant and Alpine Valley Community Leaders Program chair Linda Griffiths-Brown as the guest speaker, who has experience of management roles in mining, energy and government.
Wangaratta Local Drug Action Team member Tammy Atkins urged business to head along and hear what she has to say.
"She comes at it with a real community focus," she said.
"She's got 25 years experience in the HR space, including a lot of time on mine sites, dealing direct with staff, on the ground dealing with drug and alcohol issues."
Government funding has also been granted for Ms Griffiths-Brown to conduct a limited number of confidential and free one-on-one HR sessions with employers, to talk about drug policies.
"I'd be surprised if no one wants to take up that opportunity to check and test their policies, check where they are at with their workforce," Ms Atkins said.
"We're hoping that more businesses will get involved."
She said as this was the first event of its kind in Wangaratta, she was unsure how many people would attend and it would show how ready the community is for the conversation about drug use.
The breakfast will be held at the Quality Hotel Wangaratta Gateway from 7.15am to 9am on April 16.
To register, visit www.eventbrite.com/e/living-well-work-tickets-59093716898.
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