SPEED USE ON PAR WITH CANNABIS

New Zealand's methamphetamine ('speed') problem has reached "epidemic"
levels, with its use now equalling that of cannabis in some areas,
Detective Inspector Gary Knowles, of police national drug intelligence, says.

On Saturday, Auckland police busted one of the biggest methamphetamine
laboratories ever found in New Zealand.

Detective Sergeant Craig Turley said the laboratory was found in the middle
of an urban area after police tracked a car being driven suspiciously.

It was a "very high quality" laboratory compared with those previously
busted in New Zealand and Australia, and filled with toxic chemicals. Some
finished speed was found. Police were still at the scene yesterday and
expected to be there for another few days.

Mr Turley said it was a real concern that it was next to family homes. Two
people were to appear in Henderson District Court today charged with
methamphetamine offences. Police were still looking for another man.

Mr Knowles said police had already busted six laboratories this year and
expected to top last year's record of 40. Previously, police were finding
about three a year.

In December, police made early-morning raids from Kaikohe, in Northland, to
Dunedin and arrested hundreds of people, as four undercover operations
aimed at the heart of the methamphetamine industry were wound up.

However, Mr Knowles said production was going up again. It was an epidemic.
"If we walk away from this it's going to get out of control."

He said a lot of the busts were happening in rural areas such as Kaitaia
and Blenheim. Speed use was up with cannabis in some rural areas, and
Northland's community was particularly affected, he said. People taking it
got an instant rush, which made them highly volatile. The lows were very low.

Police believed the drug's use was behind a lot of domestic violence.
People were using it before committing burglaries and driving.

All of New Zealand's big gangs were making big money out of producing and
dealing it.

Mr Knowles said the chemicals used to make speed were extremely dangerous
and it was amazing there had not been an explosion at a laboratory. Police
and people living nearby were being put in danger.

In recent busts, coffee percolators were found being used instead of good
laboratory equipment.

Mr Knowles said freephone tip-off lines had provided good information and
police were looking to strengthen their relationship with chemists and
medicine wholesalers.

Big quantities of pseudoethedrine, an ingredient in many over-the-counter
cold treatments, are needed to manufacture speed. Mr Knowles said chemists
were now very vigilant.

Police were considering a publicity campaign to help stop it spreading.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said it had been saying for the
past four years that speed was going to be a huge problem.

The drug no longer had a toe-hold but a foot- and leg-hold in New Zealand
because the authorities had been complacent.

There was a direct correlation between speed and the increasing influence
of gangs and rising violence. It would also have an impact on the health
sector, he said.