Roxy-Emma McAleese considers herself a normal 19-year-old who studies and works, loves Christmas and has a cat named Dog.
She is also a drug addict and is in recovery after being sober for five months.
“I didn’t care what I was eating, what I was doing, who I was seeing, as long as I had that medication,” she said.
Ms McAleese will share her story at the NSW Drag Summit in Griffith tomorrow.
“I just want to raise awareness because there’s a lot of stigma attached to[drug use]and to say it’s normal and I’m just a normal person.” she said.
Roxy-Emma McAleese has been to rehab twice at just 19 years old. (ABC Riverina: Jess Scully)
Many community groups in the Griffith area say they were not invited to speak at the event or did not even participate.
Griffith-based crisis support group Linking Community was among those not invited.
“No matter who is running the summit, unless all stakeholders are at the table and informed about the various factors within the community, the big picture will be lost,” said Deputy CEO Kyrily Salvestro. It is not possible to grasp it,” he said.
“The full story of the impact of drugs in our communities will never be told.”
Kyrily Salvestro says she’s concerned the NSW drug summit won’t “get the whole story”. (ABC Riverina: Jess Scully)
Salvestro said he was eventually granted access to the summit after contacting local state legislator Helen Dalton, who helped organize the event.
Michelle Van Ree, from mental health service provider Flourish, said she first heard about the summit in Griffith when she was contacted by the ABC.
“I wanted to suggest some of the situations that we encounter as mental health workers, what we notice and what we discover,” she said.
“It would have been useful to hear other services’ opinions and compare notes.”
Flourish’s Michelle Van Ree says her organization was not invited to the drug summit. (ABC Riverina: Lucas Forbes)
The owners of two medical facilities in Griffith also told the ABC that no GPs had been invited to the summit.
Local councils are ignorant
Griffith Mayor Doug Curran said the local council had also been removed from the invitation list.
“How can we not involve local governments when we could be asked to help with deliveries?” he said.
“It’s great to have Griffith come out, but I don’t know how well it’s been organized and publicized.
Griffith Mayor Doug Curran wants the state government to listen more to local services about Griffith’s drug problem. (ABC Riverina: Lucas Forbes)
“I just want to see real action. I don’t want to see a talkfest where people acknowledge what’s wrong and walk away.”
The summit is a campaign promise to bring together service providers and people with lived experience to inform state drug policy.
The event will be held at three locations in New South Wales, with the first venue being in Griffith, followed by Lismore on Monday and a two-day summit in Sydney in December.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park has been contacted for comment.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said there was no “concerted effort” to remove people from the summit.
“I’m sorry, but there’s probably not much I can do about it,” he said.
“The time to hear evidence is limited.”
Social services provider United NSW.ACT will have representatives at all three summits.
Emma Maiden, the group’s advocacy director, said she wanted the government to move to a “comprehensive diversion” policy that would divert all drug users from the justice system and into health services.
“I really don’t think there is room for someone to be arrested, tried and jailed for just using a small amount of illegal drugs,” she said.
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