P PARTIES TARGET TEENAGERS

Teenagers are being lured to P parties where they are given free
"starter packs" to get them hooked.

In a disturbing trend in the Western Bay of Plenty drug scene, dealers
are aggressively marketing their wares to teenagers by packaging a
lighter, a pipe for smoking pure methamphetamine, known as P, and a
0.1g sample of the drug.

The packs are decorated with sunflowers and other patterns designed to
be attractive to youths.

The parties are based on a pyramid-type scheme whereby party-goers
who bring a friend usually get a free sampler pack for themselves.

Mixed bags of drugs, which include a cannabis joint, Ecstasy pill and
acid trip, are also available.

The spread of P in the Western Bay of Plenty comes after a university
study confirmed the class-A drug was moving from the dance party
subculture to the wider community.

The Massey University study found that escalation of the drug's use
was driven by its availability in smaller, more affordable quantities
and its growing popularity as the party drug of choice.

A "point", or 0.1g of the drug, has traditionally sold for $100. But P
is now being sold in smaller weights for $20 to $50.

Co-ordinator of the Tauranga District Health Board's community alcohol
and drugs service, Hester Hattingh, said feedback indicated drug
parties were being held around the Bay as often as every week -
usually at people's homes rather than covert locations.

Tauranga CIB head Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner said police
were not aware of P parties, but he was not surprised that dealers
were trying to get younger, more vulnerable people hooked.

Mr Turner said police would talk to anyone anonymously if that person
had information about the parties.

The lead researcher of the Massey University study, Chris Wilkins,
said P was increasingly popular among students, teenagers, business
people, young women, Maori, the poor and boy racers.

The study found that P was by far the most popular form of
methamphetamine,

with about 80 percent of questioned drug users taking it. Ten percent
of people in the 18-20 age group nationwide had tried the drug.

Dr Wilkins said the most worrying trend involving P was the increased
number of users injecting the drug.

Injecting increased the risk to users and their partners, families and
the community because it made the user more dangerous and
unpredictable, said Dr Wilkins.