NZ HAS SECOND HIGHEST SPEED USE IN WORLD

Wellington: Amphetamine-type drugs are an evil the Government is committed
to combating, Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said yesterday.

His comments follow the release of a United Nations global survey which
shows New Zealand and Australia are second only to Thailand in
methampethamine abuse, with 3.7% of the population of both countries
abusing the drug.

Australia was also a world leader in ecstasy abuse, with 2.9% of its
population abusing the drug. New Zealand followed closely with 2.3%.

Mr Anderton described methamphetamine, also known as P, or speed, as "pure
evil".

"New Zealand has already seen a number of high-profile murders and other
horrific crimes of violence caused by this drug," he said.

"The pure truth is that P can cause permanent, serious physical and
psychological effects on individuals and accompanying damage to families
and communities."

In May, the Government released a 19-point plan aimed at countering the
methampethamine problem, which included giving police greater search and
seizure powers, Customs increased powers to deal with unlicensed imports of
methamphetamine ingredients, improved community education and more
comprehensive drug monitoring surveillance data.

Methamphetamine had also been reclassified as a class A drug, which meant
anyone convicted of importing, manufacturing or supplying it faced up to
life imprisonment.

Mr Anderton said the entire community should get behind the moves to stop
the abuse of amphetamine-type drugs.

But National MP Tony Ryall said the Government was soft on drugs and that
had been exposed by the UN survey.

He released new information, supplied by Customs Minister Rick Barker in
response to written questions, which showed the number of ecstasy tablets
intercepted by Customs had increased from 7969 four years ago to 265,447
last year.

Act New Zealand MP Stephen Franks said the Government must drop its
"soft-on-crime mentality and start doing, instead of talking". Police were
under-resourced and under-staffed, and police methamphetamine response
teams would not start until next year.

New Zealand First MP Craig McNair called on the Government to wage an
all-out war on the manufacture, distribution and use of methamphetamines.

"The subtlety of the effects of these narcotics on the brain and in
speeding up the ageing process are not understood by many users but the
devastation in our communities and the growth of criminal gangs certainly
are," he said.

United Future leader Peter Dunne said the survey should serve as a wake-up
call to the Government on the need for a comprehensive drug strategy.

New Zealanders needed to stop seeing drugs as a recreational choice for the
middle class and realise they were not "harmless playthings".

Massey University researcher Chris Wilkins told National Radio the New
Zealand statistics could be even worse as they were based on 2001 figures.

The numbers of clandestine labs found by police, recent drug seizures and
arrests suggested the use of drugs may have increased since then, he said.

But the Australian Government questioned the method of data collection for
the report as some countries used different means of collecting data, which
led to uncertainties in the comparison of nations.

Police National Drug Intelligence Bureau chief Detective Inspector Gary
Knowles told said there were no surprises for police in the report.

"It's what we've predicted for some time, and looking at global trends
we've probably caught up with the rest of the world . . . It's not a record
I'm proud of, and it shows New Zealand can no longer sit in isolation and
believe we won't have these drug problems." - NZPA