DRUG USE WORRIES POLICE

Wellington: Methamphetamine - poor man's cocaine - is creating headaches
for police who yesterday expressed concerns at the highest level about the
drug's widespread use.

Police Commissioner Rob Robinson told Parliament's law and order committee
that he did not think police were winning the battle against the drug
commonly known as speed.

"In the last three or four years there has been a steady upward trend in
terms of the amount of that product in and around the market for our young
people.

"The home-grown methamphetamine problem is a worry - simply because of the
criminal links of those producing it and peddling it and the fact that it
does have the . . . potential to rob our youth."