As part of a $5.7 million Federal government package to address drug and alcohol misuse in the Northern Rivers, the residential facility the Buttery near Bangalow is being funded to provide a new service aimed at helping methamphetamine (‘ice’) users to address their dependency on the damaging drug.
To be known as Dayhab the free program will deliver community-based services between Lismore, Byron Bay and Tweed Heads.
“It is specifically designed for anyone not able to attend a residential rehabilitation program,” said the Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan at the on-site announcement of the funding on 27 April.
While the program will not exclusively target ice users, this increasingly common drug will be a major focus. Dayhab will fill a gap in local services and complement existing programs, according to Mr Hogan.
It is part of the $5.7 million package the MP announced last year to develop a range of services to tackle the “ice scourge” in the local community.
Congratulating the North Coast Primary Health Network and the Buttery for developing the program, Mr Hogan said, “Ice not only hurts the user, it tears families apart and puts our frontline emergency workers like nurses and police in physical danger.
The program will assist clients to attend daily intensive and holistic rehabilitation sessions over a period of six weeks. Once they complete treatment, follow-up care will be available if required.
“With rehabilitation sessions offered during school hours, it will particularly help single parents and others who are not able to enter long-term residential rehabilitation due to their responsibilities,” Mr Hogan added.
• As the pun was irresistible, we might explain that ‘bread’ is a slang word for money (as indeed is its unbaked version, ‘dough’)
