SEX WORKER TELLS OF DRUG HORROR

A former Marlborough sex worker says the use of P is rife within the
industry and that increasingly prostitutes are getting hooked on the drug
that destroys their lives and families.

Evalynne Ericsen said that since she came to Marlborough two years ago she
has lost custody of her children, her flat and her possessions and ended up
with a major P problem.

"I'm not the only girl who has come to Blenheim that has come to this
position. There's four working girls who have come to this town that have
ended up with P problems. You're introduced to the drug and before you know
it you owe lots of money," she said.

Miss Ericsen said that the methamphetamine P helped her with the demands of
working two jobs and solo parenting.

"After work I was able to get my kids to school and to make sure that I
still had a family life. Being a single mother I had to be both mum and
dad, but when I was on P I could be mum, dad, aunty and uncle.

"I was getting split into two different people. Instead of realising that I
am not six feet tall, I was wrecking everything. It's wrecked me as a
person and as a mum."

The lure of the drug was the limitless energy she got from it and a release
from depression.

"It put me on top of the world. It got me out of my negative state, it got
me thinking I could do anything. I'd have no hangover on the stuff, it
would pick me up."

But it came at a cost.

"I always dabbled in drugs but nowhere near the extent where I spent $700 a
day. I P-ed myself stupid for three months, I didn't eat or sleep. My
friends have seen me go downhill really really fast," she said.

Miss Ericsen said that while she had been free of the drug for nearly six
months, there was always the temptation to go back to it.

"I can't work in this industry. If I earn large amounts of money I go and
get some P. I'm trying my hardest to stay away. I'm in a situation because
of it."

Miss Ericsen said the drug had taken its toll on her family life and she no
longer had custody of her children.

"All I own is the clothes on my back. I've lost support for my family
because of drugs which has made things twice as hard."

Miss Ericsen, who has worked in the sex industry in many areas of the
country, believed that use of the drug was prevalent in Marlborough.

She said that many of the women using P had been "overwhelmed" by the drug
and had been unable to take care of their children.

"I never neglected my children and their needs but a lot of other girls
have. All of the other girls who have major P problems and have lost their
kids to CYF or the other parent," she said.

She's cynical of police claims that the P industry is "under control" in
Blenheim.

"I read in the paper the police saying 'we have the P industry under
control' and I thought, no they don't. It is unbelievable. One of the girls
has a twenty-four seven habit - every job she does goes straight on P."

Criminal investigations acting Detective Sergeant Richard Rolton encouraged
anyone with information about P in Marlborough to come forward.

"It is only by receiving information from members of the public that we can
assess the situation and take appropriate action," Detective Rolton said.

For now, Miss Ericsen has no house and no possessions. She voluntarily gave
custody of her two children to the children's father.

She said that while she did not mind working in the sex industry because it
"puts food on the table and it pays the bills" she was very uncertain about
her future.

"I've got to start again and I'm scared. I don't know where to start. My
whole way of living has been affected by the Marlborough sex industry and by P.

"I've been away from it now for five or six months but every day I would
love to go out and do it. But I'm getting my focus back - I want to get a
house and to get my babies back home with mum where they are supposed to be."

New Zealand Prostitutes Collective national coordinator Catherine Healy
said that while drug abuse had long been a health and safety issue within
the industry, the majority of sex workers were not drug takers.

However, Ms Healy said that many sex workers were aged between 20 and 30
and it was at this age that many people experimented with drugs.