It follows reports used and potentially contaminated needles were being shamelessly discarded in public places across the city.

Repeated calls for more sharps disposal bins and improved education and awareness campaigns were echoed across social media platforms this week, after a Wagga mother found two dirty syringes in her front garden.

But Calvary Riverina Drug and Alcohol Centre acting-manager Jenny Atkinson said the rise in drug use and addiction was not unique to Wagga.

It comes after the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported 1808 drug induced deaths in 2016 – the highest number in twenty years. 

Ms Atkinson said combating the problem would require a whole-community approach and more importantly, a change in public thinking. 

“We have to change our opinion towards drug users,” Ms Atkinson said.

“These people really do have to start working on themselves and the way they see themselves ... They too look at themselves with intense guilt and shame.” 

She said if everyday Wagga residents heard some of the centre client’s stories, they may not judge so harshly.

An option she said would never be considered was a safe injection room – like the one launched at Kings Cross in 2001 – where residents could be monitored and treated if necessary.

“The research we get out of injection rooms in Sydney is phenomenal,” Ms Atkinson said. “It saves lives … we want these people to survive.”

But it is an option that has met mass criticism elsewhere.

Ms Atkinson said alcohol abuse was most common at the centre, but the use of ice was an increasing concern due to its accessibility and low price. 

While incidences of drug-related crime across Wagga have remained stable across two years, there were more than 550 reports made between October 2016 and September 2017, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. 

Wagga’s chief of policing Andrew Spliet said the drug ice was the most concerning, with its use impacting all socio-economic areas.

He said a solution would require a whole-community approach.