Canberra's only Aboriginal health centre has described the influence of ice, or crystal methamphetamine, on the Indigenous community as reaching "crisis proportions".
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Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service chief executive Julie Tongs said staff at the centre witnessed the effects of the drug on a nearly daily basis.
"The use of the drug ice is having a dramatic impact," she said. "It has been responsible for a number of deaths and the problem appears to be getting worse.
"We see close to 150 clients a day and there has been a huge increase in people coming through with ice problems over the last year and it's getting worse."
Ms Tongs said Canberra, like many other cities across Australia, had experienced an increase in ambulance call-outs because of the use of ice in recent years.
"I can only emphasise that the destructiveness of the use of ice on our community is appalling. It has reached crisis proportions," she said.
"And we readily acknowledge that its impact is not just restricted to the Indigenous community but the whole Australian community".
Ms Tongs said the health service would host a forum to help the Indigenous community learn more about the drug and seek treatment.
The August 18 forum will feature Kathleen Orr, a senior trainer in drug and mental health at one of Victoria's largest treatment centres, Odyssey House.
"Hopefully by being better informed it will help our community better tackle ice addiction," Ms Tongs said.
Ms Tongs said ice addiction had proved more complicated to treat than heroin, and bouts of psychosis were a continual threat to staff at the centre.
"We have dedicated one of our reception areas to cater for clients who have a mental health issue or are drug affected.
"We have a very small waiting room and when we have someone in there with psychosis they need to see a doctor straight away, we can't have them waiting in there with other patients."
The Aboriginal health service is not the only treatment centre that was struggling to meet an increasing demand for assistance from drug users.
Late last year, the Salvation Army reported a 155 per cent increase in Canberrans seeking treatment for methamphetamine addiction amid mental health problems and unpredictable violence.
Waiting lists at many treatment centres have climbed to more than two months with some, such as the eight-bed Directions ACT program, closing the waiting list for programs.
"Otherwise people sit on a waiting list for up to a year and that's not fair on them," she said.
The ACT government donated $800,000 in the 2015-16 budget to assist drug treatment and support services, despite the territory's peak drug body calling for double the amount.
In a submission to the government, the ACT Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association reported a "rapid and profound shift from powder amphetamines to the more harmful crystalline methamphetamine".
Ms Tongs said ice addiction was not a problem for just the police and politicians and demanded a community response.
"There are families out there that are really struggling and are very vulnerable," she said.
"We know that when people are on ice they can become very violent and it's not pretty. It's something that people should not be subjected to."
