Number of Canberrans seeking treatment for ice addiction doubles in three years

And rising numbers of those seeking treatment for all drug and alcohol addictions is leading to month-long waits for even basic counselling sessions.

Data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare last week showed rising numbers of people seeking help for methamphetamine use nationwide.

In Canberra, it shows the number of people getting treated for ice abuse jumped from 677 in 2013-14 to 1392 in 2015-16, overtaking both cannabis and heroin to become the ACT's second biggest "primary drug of concern" behind alcohol.

Overall in the ACT, the data confirms the constantly rising number of people seeking help for alcohol and drug addiction, up from 4545 in 2013-14 to 5774 in 2015-16.

Alcohol remained the top "primary drug of concern" for those treatment episodes, up from 2123 in 2013-14 to 2450 last fiscal year, while treatment for heroin and cannabis in Canberra has hovered around the 500 and 800-odd marks for the past three years, respectively.

Directions ACT executive director Bronwyn Hendry said the data supported what the sector was seeing, with about 22 per cent of all Directions ACT clients seeking help for methamphetamine problems across the past three years.

But she said the overall number of clients had risen dramatically in the past three years, up from about 1000 people in 2013-14 to almost 2000 clients in 2015-16.

"It's rising in different areas for us, so the proportion of people seeking help for methamphetamine has stayed pretty constant in the community-based treatment and support services," she said.

"But in our residential and day program services and withdrawal program at Arcadia House, that's seen an increase in methamphetamine clients from about 26 per cent in 2013-14 to about 43 per cent last year."

Ms Hendry said not only were more people experiencing problems with methamphetamine in Canberra, but they were having troubles at the more acute end of the spectrum, needing more intensive support.

"In total numbers of our clients for those in community-based treatment services, alcohol is still by far the biggest issue in the community, but methamphetamine has overtaken cannabis and heroin in our rehabilitation service, really because they have both dropped," she said.

She said the rise in total client numbers could be due partly to more recognition of problems in the community, or an increase in referrals from the justice and child protection systems, but either way it was putting increasing pressure on services.

Ms Hendry said that pressure had in turn led to a month-long wait for a counselling session, while wait times for residential and day rehabilitation fluctuated, but could range between six and 12 weeks.

"We can provide support to people in the meantime, but the long wait times for community and residential treatment services can mean that a client's motivation or circumstances can change during that time and we may miss the opportunity to engage them in treatment," she said.