Despite extensive consultations to review the strategy in 2015, the key document the government and community sector uses to manage complex drug and alcohol patients has not been updated since 2010.

It is one of a number of key health policies or guidelines years' out of date, with Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris last week pledging to address a years-long delay to a review of the ACT's methadone treatment guidelines.

Then-Health Minister Simon Corbell cited the rising tide of treatment episodes for methamphetamine use when launching the 2015 review of the drugs strategy.

At the time, he cited the 496 Canberrans who sought treatment for ice addiction in 2013 as evidence of the need to review and update the strategic document.

That figure has since risen to 1392 treatment episodes in 2015-16, one of the key factors contributing to the growing burden on the ACT's drug and alcohol treatment services.

The Canberra Times understands the new strategy was largely drafted before last October's territory election, but is still awaiting approval by ACT Health.

The committee that oversees the policy, which is meant to meet at least once every three months, has not met at all this year and met only twice last year, in March and December.

But an ACT Health spokesman said the committee had met "as necessary", and in its December 2016 meeting had noted the Commonwealth had begun work on the new National Drug Strategy, released earlier this month.

He said the release of the ACT's new strategy, which will now cover the 2017-2021 period, was "deliberately paused" to ensure the National Drug Strategy's targets were taken into account.

But the existing strategy covered the period 2010 to 2014.

In the three years since, drug and alcohol treatment services in Canberra have effectively been left treading water on the government's specific policy direction.

Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Association of the ACT's Carrie Fowlie said Canberra could be proud of its long legacy of past strategies and starting "multiple innovative programs".

But she said the community was experiencing growing harms from methamphetamines and opioids, and increasing demand for treatment, but unfortunately did not have a current drug strategy.

"A comprehensive whole-of-community and whole-of-government strategy helps the community know what the priorities are, what we are doing and why, how it's going to help and how scarce public funds are being spent," Ms Fowlie said.

"Without a current drug strategy, we risk working in a policy vacuum, we could miss changing drug trends and miss opportunities for action."

Ms Fowlie also said there was a need for the strategy to be supported inside ACT Health by "a strong alcohol, tobacco and other drug policy unit" staffed by subject experts.

"The work has been done, a revised ACT drug strategy is drafted, the public consulted, it just needs to be released," she said.

"The National Drug Strategy has just been released; it expects that each jurisdiction will develop its own strategy action plan."

The health directorate spokesman said the delays were "not impacting on the overall improved effects being made in this area" and the government's focus was still "underpinned by the principles of harm minimisation".