Plea for P-addict help
Tasman police district, which includes Marlborough and the West Coast.
About half of that increase was in Nelson, said Nelson Bays crime prevention manager, Senior Sergeant Scott Richardson.
He attributed the rise largely to an increased police focus on fighting the drug.
‘‘We’re finding a lot more of it now when we stop people. We used to find a lot of cannabis and now it’s no big surprise to find instruments for methamphetamine, and that was very uncommon a few years ago,’’ he said.
Former meth users and relatives of addicts gave testimony of the damage caused by the drug otherwise known as ‘‘P’’, and some said help wasn’t there when they asked for it.
One parent, Deirdre, described being thrown against a wall by her son, a ‘‘P’’ user, dealer and gangmember, who is due to be released from prison soon.
‘‘Before he went away my family were living in a state of desperation . . . I was a zombie, not knowing which way to turn, trying to keep my other children safe, run a house, work and keep life going as normal.
But it wasn’t. I couldn’t sleep . . . we had police on our door most weeks looking for him, dogs, tasers and even a house search with three other children looking on.
‘‘I went to my GP and all I got was; ‘try counselling’,’’ she told the gathering.
Alcohol and Drug Services (A and D) told her she was better off going to a friend for support, she said.
Former addict Cassandra Gibbs, 37, described becoming hooked on meth after coming to Nelson to escape a violent partner in Dunedin.
She believed long wait times for treatment in the city were exacerbating the problem.
‘‘I went to the GP three times for a referral [to A and D]. In between times, you just keep smoking it because . . . all you’re looking for is that hit.
‘‘I just wanted someone to tell me that it’s going to be ok and they were going to be sticking by me.’’
She credited Silvia Yorke, a founding member of Community Connect, with helping her get clean.
‘‘She didn’t give up on me,’’ Gibbs said.
Yorke called on city leaders at the meeting to help support the group’s plan for a centre that would offer instant support to addicts seeking help.
She proposed teaming each addict up with a volunteer to help them stay on track.
‘‘Clogged up agencies, despite their very best efforts, are underresourced and unable to adequately keep up with the growing problem,’’ said Yorke.
Community Connect was also setting up a support group for families affected by meth, at Victory Community Centre, Yorke said.
One former meth addict, speaking from behind a screen, said she only managed to beat meth after a stranger picked her up off the street. ‘‘In Nelson, we don’t have the detox Kennedy unit and Thorpe House as in Christchurch, we don’t have a lovely place like He Waka Tapu who has a Ma¯ori Ora 10 week, intensive day-in dayout drug rehab programme.’’
Nelson MP Nick Smith told the meeting he supported the idea of a detox clinic. 0800 53 00 00
Support and treatment for meth addicts desperately needed in city, meeting told.
He said he would talk to the new family support group to see how to locally channel some of the extra $80 million announced by the government 10 days ago to tackle meth.
Labour candidate Rachel Boyack said Labour would increase funding for addiction treatment agencies by not going ahead with tax cuts, and putting money back into the health budget instead. If elected, she would support bids for a detox centre.
Peter Bramley, chief executive of Nelson Marlborough Health, said the DHB would ‘‘certainly want to get behind’’ initiatives like Community Connect’s family support group.