ICE is the drug everyone is talking about but alcohol is still a huge cause for concern, says drug support worker Theo Chang.
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"If we had a bar chart where you can cut and dice it in terms of pain and suffering to families, costs on social aspects, loss of earning, hospitalisation, violence - all the key indicators - and you had two bars, one for alcohol and another for the sum total of all the drugs, it would quite surprise you where there is a strong representation from alcohol," he said.
"The sum total of drugs barely make it as a bar next to the alcohol ... There's some very skewed data out there, people are going around saying ice is the drug that's causing the most chaos ... but when you pitch it next to alcohol it really doesn't even rate."
Mr Chang is a spokesman for Family Drug Support's Stepping Stones to Success program.
The program comes to Bendigo at various times throughout the year and aims to increase people’s confidence and competence in managing drug issues and provides a reality-based approach that addresses self-care and self-worth.
Mr Chang's comments come after the release of World Health Organisation statistics showing alcohol caused some 3.3 million deaths in 2012.
For Family Drug Support call 1300 368 786.