WE'RE WINNING DRUG BATTLE, SAYS KEY

The Government says increased hauls of methamphetamine and tens of
millions of dollars of drug-related asset seizures this year show its
co-ordinated attack on P is working.

The second six-monthly progress report on the Tackling Methamphetamine
campaign revealed that 25kg of the drug has been seized this year by
police and Customs staff.

Last year's haul was less than 20kg.

The average price of P was $738 a gram in April. By last month it had
fallen slightly to $723.

But it is still above the $698 a gram 2008 "baseline" measure. At the
street level, the price of a "point", or a tenth of a gram of P, was
$107, up $7 on six months ago and up $11 on 2008.

"It's not getting cheaper for people wanting to feed their habit,"
Prime Minister John Key said yesterday.

"I think we are making progress, which is why the price has stayed at
that high level and why the seizure rate is much higher.

"If you just look at the enormous amount of meth that we've taken out
of circulation, that tells you that we're doing a pretty good job."

It was not known how much methamphetamine was being imported or
manufactured locally undetected by authorities.

But despite this, "you can say the ... nature of the plan is
delivering results", Mr Key said.

Police had raided and dismantled 105 clandestine meth labs this year,
up 11 on the same time last year.

Locally obtained pseudoephedrine - one of the basic ingredients for P
- - was found at about a third of those labs, and Mr Key said he was
sure the ban on over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine, which comes
into force next year, would affect manufacturers.

Police had also identified and were securing $48 million worth of
assets believed to have been obtained through criminal activity.

Of this, $30.6 million was believed to be from P-related
offending.

On the treatment side of the programme, 60 new beds for people seeking
help with P addiction had been created, ahead of schedule.

They were now filled, and waiting lists for treatment had been
shortened.

But methamphetamine and drug policy specialist Mike Sabin said that if
the price, purity and availability of the drug remained little
changed, "that would indicate to me that the market is still pretty
stable".

"What you're looking for is quite significant shifts," he said. A
doubling of the price or a halving of purity would be a respectable
result.

Mr Sabin, a former police officer, believed the police and other
agencies involved in the year-old crackdown were still playing
catch-up on years of a significant hiatus in action against the drug
during the early 2000s.

"They're now getting increased interceptions but it's not taking the
market off at the knees."

During the enforcement hiatus, Mr Sabin said, demand for the drug
increased enormously as recreational users became addicted. This
fuelled the supply side now being targeted in the Government's policy.

"I think there would great gains to be had in reducing demand, and
that's really around social marketing, education and so forth."

[sidebar]

SIGNS OF A CLAN LAB:

Chemical smells coming from a house or building. The smells can be
sweet, bitter, ammonia or solvent smells. Exhaust fans running at
odd times. Lots of rubbish around the outside of a house, garage or
detached building on a property - especially empty containers or
chemical containers. People visiting at unusual times Blacked out
windows or curtains drawn all day.

Anyone who has information about a clan lab can call a local police
station or the anonymous police Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111

Source NZ Police