DRUG SEIZURES ALREADY DOUBLE 2001 LEVELS

Customs have so far this year seized nearly twice the amount of drugs,
including ecstasy and methamphetamine or speed compared with the whole
of 2001.

On Monday night about 20,000 tablets of MDMA (usually sold as ecstasy)
were discovered in the false bottom of a suitcase at Auckland
International Airport, the Customs Service said today.

The haul brought the total amount of MDMA seized so far this year to
the equivalent of more than 161,000 tablets -- more than twice the
73,000 seized last year.

A Japanese woman had been arrested and charged over the
incident.

New Customs Minister Rick Barker said today he was worried about the
growing market for this type of drug.

"People talk about 'party' drugs or 'designer' drugs but the fact is
these are hard drugs," he said.

"Methamphetamine and amphetamine in particular are linked to violent
crime and anti-social behaviour."

Mr Barker said while customs was working to cut off the supply, it was
clear the increasing level of smuggling was being driven by rising
demand for the drugs in New Zealand.

But Green MP Nandor Tanczos said the Government's concern about the
rising use of hard drugs was a sham because the police spent much more
time enforcing cannabis laws. Mr Tanczos released official figures
showing police spent more than $20 million and 280,000 hours enforcing
cannabis laws in the 2000/01 year, compared with $13.5 million and
185,000 hours on all other drugs combined.

"It's just not true for the Government to say it's concerned about the
growing use of hard drugs when police spend much more time and money
busting people for personal use of cannabis than for importing,
manufacturing and wholesaling drugs like methamphetamines and MDMA
(ecstasy)," he said.

"Most people who use cannabis have no interest in synthetic drugs but
come face to face with them every time they go to buy a tinny."

Allowing adults to grow small amounts of cannabis for personal use
would destabilise the illegal distribution network and fewer people
would come into contact with hard drugs, he said.

Mr Tanczos, a Rastafarian who has said he uses cannabis for religious
purposes, has been campaigning for the legalisation of the drug for
personal use.

He has tried to persuade the Government to change the law, but when
Prime Minister Helen Clark signed agreements with the Progressive
Coalition and United Future she said that was not going to happen.