GOVT PLANS DRUG CRACKDOWN

Methamphetamine use in Taranaki is reaching dangerous levels as the
Government moves to crack down on a nationwide problem.

The Government's new 19-point Methamphetamine Action Plan was aimed at
controlling supply, reducing demand, limiting harm and improving treatment
services.

Detective Sue Ashton, of Waitara, said the use of methamphetamine was
getting to a dangerous level.

"I'm beginning to see signs of it being used by the youth, which is really
scary. It's scary enough adults using it, let alone teenage children or
younger.

"We are starting to see a lot of relationship break-ups because of it; it's
destroying families and also the mood changes and violence."

Police were definitely seeing more crime that was linked to methamphetamine
use - burglaries by drug users to support their habit and shoplifters
targeting chemists to get the base ingredients for manufacture of the drug,
Ms Ashton said.

"Then you have the violence side of it that is starting to shine through."

The changes in the action plan, particularly the power of search, would
help police combat use of the drug, she said.

"At the moment, we haven't got the powers of search. If we believe
someone's carrying methamphetamine there's not a lot we can do without a
search warrant and that takes a bit of time to get."

Taranaki Young People's Trust co-ordinator Bridget West said the plan was a
good idea, but she wondered if the Government actually realised how bad the
problem was.

"For this area, in particular, I think it's quite prevalent and it's not
being picked up."

She was working with several people aged 17 to 21 who were using
methamphetamine regularly. For some, it was causing problems in their
lives, but others had not yet reached that stage.

"It's like a time bomb."

Under the Government's action plan, police and customs would get greater
search and seizure powers, while other agencies would be responsible for
improving community education and beefing up drug monitoring surveillance data.

The plan involved reclassifying methamphetamine as a class-A drug by the
end of the month. Those importing or manufacturing the drug, commonly known
as speed, could face life imprisonment.

Earlier this year, Taranaki Base Hospital's emergency department revealed
it had employed a night security guard because of increasing levels of
violence, much of it because of patients being affected by methamphetamine use.

Emergency department medical director Paul Koenig said health workers were
seeing more aggressive and violent behaviour.

Taranaki Health's drug and alcohol medical officer Graeme Judson said his
department was seeing more and more people who were using methamphetamine.
Many of them had been on it for a few years and it was the same all over
New Zealand.

"We are certainly seeing more and more, it's a slow trend upwards. People
that present to us are normally at the dependent end of the scale."

Dr Judson said that what he had seen of the plan was welcomed and he
believed reclassification of the drug to class-A made sense.

"And it's good to see them making moves towards more funding for treatment
and education. I don't know the exact details yet but it's certainly a
positive direction."

In releasing the plan, Associate Health Minister and chairman of the
Ministerial Action Group on Alcohol and Drugs, Jim Anderton, said the
Government was showing zero tolerance.