Bid to bring drug summit to Lismore

LISMORE City Council is lobbying to bring the NSW Government’s Drug Summit to Lismore.

The government announced it will hold a four-day drug summit in NSW, with two days in regional NSW starting in October and two days in Sydney in December.

At the August council meeting, Councillor Adam Guise proposed that Lismore bid to host one of the regional sittings.

He said Lismore had a significant population of drug users and service providers and would benefit from the summit coming to the region to hear their stories.

Lismore council previously ran a Social Justice and Crime Prevention Committee which delivered a report with recommendations around drug law reform, establishing a Koori Court and justice reinvestment.

The historic Ice Inquiry previously visited Lismore for hearings, with funding of $33.9m announced for drug and alcohol treatment services across the state.

Cr Guise said the summit could catalyse meaningful change to bring long overdue law reform and better treatment services to the region.

“The summit isn’t the panacea to all our ills. It is going to bring attention to the issue.

“Obviously, what we need is a long overdue service and drug law reform that keeps people out of jail and takes a justice reinvestment approach to drug use and crime prevention.”

Cr Guise quoted Dr Bronwyn Hudson, a specialist addiction medicine physician, who supported bringing the summit to Lismore.

“As a doctor working in primary care, I cannot think of a better place to host the NSW Drug Summit than Lismore. Their passion for change on the back of challenging times in the region has never been higher,” Dr Hudson said.

ACON Health worker Johnny Dawson is part of a group of community services and sectors that are advocating for better harm reduction and Alcohol and Other Drugs services in Lismore, and he spoke in support of bringing the summit to Lismore.

“Since the flood, the people of Lismore have experienced significant challenges which have exacerbated existing issues around mental health and precarious housing and drug use.”

He said more rehabilitation services were needed to help people who sought help. Long waiting lists meant that people were often unable to get a bed in a rehabilitation centre after detoxing, and that could result in people ending up back on the streets or in addiction.

The last drug summit, held 25 years ago, brought reform, he said, advocating for a new hearing in Lismore.

“It’s a powerful opportunity for Lismore to be heard and to have a voice on this subject,” he said.

Council staff had already submitted a letter of interest in holding the summit to the NSW Government and councillors agreed to write to Premier Chris Minns, the Minister for Health Ryan Park and Lismore MP Janelle Saffin to request that one day of the recently announced Drug Summit be held in Lismore.