DRUGS ARE RUINING FAR TOO MANY YOUNG LIVES IN NEW ZEALAND

Our police are waging a constant battle against drug traffickers.
But their job is getting no easier. Now a UN agency is voicing
concern at organised criminal groups continuing to use Oceania as a
major trans-shipment area for illicit drugs.

A report released this month cites the smuggling of methamphetamine
(or P) through the region from South-east Asia to Canada and, to a
lesser extent, the United States.

It also notes that New Zealand police continued detecting attempted
diversions of medicines from China containing pseudoephedrine --
which is used in the manufacture of P.

"The illicit market continued to be supplied with such medicines
through the diversion of over-the-counter medicines and theft," it states.

During 2005, more than 146kg of pseudoephedrine and 20kg of
ephedrine were seized in New Zealand.

The report, by the International Narcotics Control Board, says the
illicit manufacture of P seemed to be increasing in New Zealand.

A total 204 such laboratories had been dismantled in 2006, compared
with 182 in 2004.

That's a shocking statistic!

Cannabis has remained the "drug of choice" among abusers in many
parts of Oceania, according to the control board.

This included Australia, Micronesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

In New Zealand, the agency noted that the outdoor cultivation of
cannabis plants had been supplemented by operations using
sophisticated indoor hydroponics.

New Zealand has also come under the agency's eye for substances not
under international control, citing the seizure of 10kg of
gamma-butyrolactone in 2005.

"GBL is becoming increasingly popular among drug abusers in New
Zealand. In addition, there are indications that the abuse of party
pills containing benzylpiperazine has become a growing problem."

Our advice to yougsters? Don't be stupid. Stay clean. Concentrate on
your studies, your work and your sport. Don't let drugs shatter your
dreams and ruin your lives.