FORMER GANG CHIEF BATTLING AGAINST P

Former Black Power president Colin Wilson is used to dealing with
drugs.

The broad, tattooed former gangster has spent the last seven months
dealing with the hell of them.

He has helped his son, Harley, 28, battle an addiction with P, a
"pure" variation of the methamphetamine speed.

The battle saw Harley lose a management job, write off a car and come
close to losing his family.

Seven months ago Mr Wilson, who hung up his patch in 1992, came home
to Huntly after a desperate call from his daughter. "I didn't even
know what P was," he said.

However, he learnt of the devastating effect the drug was having on
his third child.

"My son brought me home. He brought me home to plead and beg with him.
In just three months Harley lost almost everything. He was like a
zombie, in a world of his own.

Mr Wilson said his son was shocked into quitting the drug after
hearing a conversation between his young children and their mother.

"They asked their mum when they were going to see dad in
Taupiri."

Taupiri is Tainui's sacred mountain and burial ground.

"Harley has been clean for six months. He is working again. I'm proud
of my son."

Mr Wilson now fronts Huntly's Waahi Whanui Trust's fight against
P.

The former drug dealer, who has done prison time for violence, is
grateful for the chance to give back to a community he feels he owes.

"It's payback time, although I don't think I will ever get
there."

His role as a crusader against drugs is a long way from his past of 15
years as a Black Power drug dealer and enforcer.

"In those days drugs were a way to make money. I didn't
care.

"I thought I was good with my fists. The police thought I was good
too, so good they threw me in jail."

Ngaruawahia Community Constable Norm MacIntosh has known Colin Wilson
for 30 years.

"I take my hat off to him for what he is doing."

While reluctant to talk about his early dealings with Mr Wilson he
acknowledges his past makes him an ideal advocate in the fight against
drugs.

Mr Wilson now works for the trust on a voluntary basis fighting drugs
on the same streets he used to deal.

"Now I work with the police, and talk to people of the dangers of
drugs. Anyone who will listen. Maori, Asians, Pakeha it doesn't matter.

"This is not a Maori problem. This is a national problem. It's a
killer."