Meth is ‘everywhere’
NEWS two women were arrested in Dunedin this week for importing an estimated $1 million of methamphetamine into New Zealand came as no surprise to Drug Foundation chairman Tuari Potiki.
Nor should it have come as a surprise to anyone else, he says.
‘‘We are very aware of the high use of methamphetamine in Otago and Southland, particularly in rural communities,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s everywhere, but in the last year or two there has been an explosion of problematic methamphetamine use in smaller centres . . .
‘‘The issue is that those smaller centres don’t have treatment options available. That’s when it gets problematic.’’
A 2016 Otago Daily Times series on methamphetamine use in the South backs Mr Potiki’s point: in the space of a fortnight methamphetaminerelated charges had been laid by police in Waimate, Oamaru and Balclutha.
‘‘From the number of people in Otago and Southland who are turning up to treatment centres with methrelated problems, we know they are getting it from somewhere: it’s no surprise that every now and again someone is going to be caught importing it,’’ Mr Potiki said.
‘‘But it’s no need to panic: the police do a pretty good job, as evidenced by the fact that they caught these people.’’
The key thing now, Mr Potiki said, was to punish the ‘‘coldblooded’’ dealers, but offer warm friendship to their customers.
The Drug Foundation has long advocated for drug use to be regarded as a medical rather than a criminal issue, and Mr Potiki said he was heartened by comments from Detective Senior Sergeant John Ferguson, of Dunedin, that anyone affected by methamphetamine use should ask for help from treatment organisations.
‘‘The police processing attitude and conduct has changed; they are acknowledging that they cannot arrest their way out of the issue of methamphetamine use,’’ Mr Potiki said.
‘‘We know of a number of instances where they have busted a meth ring and through that process they have got access to their list of clients, and rather than hassle them they contact them and offer them help.
‘‘From our perspective, that’s perfect, that’s what they need.’’
Otago Corrections Facility has space for 45 inmates in its treatment unit, while Dunedinbased treatment centre Moana House has a long waiting list of people who urgently need help.
‘‘We’re lucky that we have Moana House, one of the best treatment facilities in the country, on our doorstep,’’ Mr Potiki said.
‘‘But the underlying issue is still a lack of treatment availability, particularly in rural areas.’’
While methamphetamine is a headlinegrabbing class A drug, offending and usage rates had to be considered in a wider context, Mr Potiki said.
‘I was at a drug conference and P was the big focus, but I spoke to the head of the A&E clinic at Wellington Hospital and he said so far as he was concerned nothing had changed.
‘‘Thursday, Friday, Saturday night, alcohol accounted for 85% of people who came in.
‘‘While meth is a toxic and nefarious drug, it’s really easy for everyone to take their eye off the ball from what is still causing the most damage every day in this country, in this region, in this city — which is alcohol.’’