MORE KIWIS OPT FOR 'LEGAL' HIGHS AS DOPE INTAKE DIPS

More New Zealanders are drinking alcohol, popping party pills and
smoking tobacco.

But the same Massey University survey that has found increases in
these legal drugs has also found the first significant drop in illegal
cannabis use for many years and a slight reduction in use of
methamphetamine, or "P".

The survey confirms other evidence that P use appears to have peaked
in 2001, when 5 per cent of 15- to 45-year-olds said they had used it
in the previous year.

The rate dropped to 4 per cent in 2003 and 3.4 per cent in the latest
survey.

But these reductions have been offset by small increases in cocaine
and Ecstasy, which has overtaken amphetamines to become New Zealand's
fifth most popular drug after the three legal drugs and cannabis.

Researcher Chris Wilkins said the survey, of 1902 people aged 15 to 45
who were telephoned last year, said even the decreases in cannabis and
methamphetamine provided little comfort because New Zealand still had
very high rates for both drugs.

This year's United Nations World Drug Report, using 2001 figures for
New Zealand, found that this country was second-highest among
developed nations for both cannabis (after Canada) and amphetamines
(after Australia).

New Zealand was third-highest for Ecstasy use after Australia and the
Czech Republic, but was around the average for developed countries for
cocaine and opiates such as opium and heroin.

As in all previous surveys, alcohol was by far the most popular drug,
used by 85.1 per cent of those aged 15 to 45 in the year up to the
survey - up from 82.2 per cent in 2003.

Alcohol Healthwatch director Rebecca Williams said the increase was
consistent with alcohol sales figures. Sales dropped from 11.3 litres
of pure alcohol per person in 1986 to a low of 8.7 litres in 1998,
partly due to the campaign against drink-driving, but have risen again
to 9.4 litres a head last year.

She said the biggest increase was in ready-to-drink "alcopops", which
were favoured especially by young women.

"It's the result of an ongoing liberalised environment," she
said.

"In the last 15 years the number of outlets has more than doubled, so
when you look at our 12- to 17-year-olds they have been born into this
environment. We are growing a whole generation of heavy drinkers."

Young people were also the main users of BZP party pills, used in the
past year by one in every six people (16.1 per cent) aged 15 to 45.

Dr Wilkins said the pills did not show up at all in the previous
survey in 2003.

"BZP has come from nowhere. It's now the fourth most widely used drug
in New Zealand," he said.

"The problem with BZP is that it has had absolutely no regulation. The
New Zealand situation is totally extraordinary. If you tried to sell a
new drug or a new food you would have to go through trials with rats,
and then trials with monkeys, and finally after years of testing you
could sell it to the human population.

"But there have been no studies about the long-term effect of BZP, so
if you find it's been causing some illness long-term, you've just let
20 per cent of the population be lab rats for this without providing
any evidence."

He said the slight drop in cannabis use might be partly a result of
the wider range of drugs now available and partly a cultural shift
among younger people to stimulants such as party pills to stay awake
for work, study or partying.

Other factors included a spinoff from the social disapproval of
tobacco smoking and the increase in the Asian population, which has
low cannabis use.

He warned that the drop in the numbers using methamphetamine was a
common pattern for a new drug and might not actually reduce the harm
the drug causes.

"The people who are scared off by the health risks and greater legal
penalties tend to be occasional users.

"That leaves a residual, more entrenched population that often turn
out to create more social cost than when you had more occasional users."