ESSENTIAL TO HIT DRUG SUPPLIES

News of a huge increase in Customs Department seizures of imported tablets
is fresh evidence of the burgeoning manufacture and trade of illegal
methamphetamine drugs writes the Nelson Mail in an editorial.

The department says people linked to drug rings are ordering large
quantities of ordinary cold and flu tablets over the Internet, partly
because of a crackdown on purchases from New Zealand pharmacies. The
tablets are then "cooked" using a risky procedure to produce drugs with a
street value of up to $1000 a gram for a pure form called P. Seizures have
soared from 32,600 tablets two years ago to an expected one million this
year - a figure the department believes is less than 20 percent of total
illicit shipments here.

Efforts to clamp down on the importers are being stymied partly by the use
of false names and addresses and the nature of the Internet itself.

A loophole in the Misuse of Drugs Act makes it difficult to prove
possession of the pills in intercepted Internet orders, and so at present
the importers are likely to get off without facing charges.

However, the Government says it hopes to have a legislative remedy in place
before the end of the year, giving police greater powers of search and arrest.

A surge in violent crime in recent years, including several murders, has
been linked to methamphetamine drugs. Last week, Nelson Detective Inspector
John Winter described P as the "biggest problem on the horizon" for police,
and the country's chief drug intelligence policeman, Gary Knowles, said
yesterday New Zealand's hard drug problem was on track to be as bad as that
in the United States. In another measure of the rapid rise of the problem,
police last year shut down 147 drug "factories", compared with just nine in
2000. Meanwhile, a national drug survey found that one in 20 of New
Zealanders aged between 15 and 45 had used an illegal stimulant such as
methamphetamine in 2000.

One of the keys to slowing this growth lies in cutting the supply of the
ingredients.

Monitoring the Internet for suspect activities is possible, as has been
shown by success internationally and in New Zealand in cracking child
pornography rings. However, enforcement resources are limited, and while
Customs is boosting its drug investigation team by a third to 32 staff and
hiring four new analysts, the department says it is being stretched to the
limit by the rocketing imports.

Meanwhile, such detection efforts are being let down by the drug
legislation flaw which is letting the tablet importers off the hook. The
Government has shown that it can fast-track legislation when it has the
will to do so, and a widespread concern over the use of P in particular
should help galvanise it into action. The Government has apparently known
of the legislative loophole for more than six months now, with the
ministerial action committee on alcohol and drugs calling for official
advice on the issue in March.

One option is to reclassify the type of cold and flu tablets used by
drug-makers as class C controlled drugs, which would give enforcement
agencies more teeth. The Government may also need to re-examine the numbers
involved in protecting our borders.

The recent increase in Customs staff was approved before the surge in
Internet orders became evident, and so there must be doubts about the
department's ability to cope. Given the high risks in making and taking
methamphetamines and the types of crime associated with users, the
enforcement agencies deserve full support.