New Zealand's P-addiction problems evolved from drug users of
all ages trying methamphetamine over the past decade as it
was novel, to dealing with a hard core of older addicts, a
researcher says.
"We've probably passed the highwater mark," said Chris
Wilkins, a senior researcher at Massey University's centre
for social and health outcomes research and evaluation
(Shore).
Dr Wilkins is the lead researcher on the illicit drug
monitoring system (IDMS) which monitors trends in NZ drug
use.
"Like any product lifecycle, we are just entering a new phase
-- which we would call the mature phase of methamphetamine
use," he told a briefing on methamphetamine in New Zealand.
The Government is due to announce over the next few weeks
measures wanted to take to combat the P problem -- possibly
including electronic tracking of customers purchasing cold
remedies containing pseudoephedrine.
Dr Wilkins said the nation was now faced with dealing with a
lot of frequent, entrenched dependent methamphetamine uses.
"We need to have good avenues to get those people into drug
treatment," he said.
Methamphetamine use in New Zealand appeared to peak between
1998 and 2001, when it was novel in the illicit drug scene,
he said.
The numbers of P labs detected dropped from 190 in 2007 to
133 in 2008, he said.
But data from interviewing drug users showed regional
variations in use, with those in Auckland and Northland the
heaviest users and South Islanders the lowest.
Until 2000, New Zealand had mainly had a cannabis market
worth $170 million a year, but since then had added a similar
size market for P and for ecstasy.
"Since 2000, we've doubled the size of our drug market in
NZ." The profile of frequent P users showed 75 percent of
them were men, with a median age of 27 -- because a lot of
older users did not start using until later in life -- and
more than half of them were unemployed, or on a sickness
benefit.
They average use of P two or three times a week, with daily
use for a fifth of the consumers.
P users who were already criminals tended to escalate
property crime and drug dealing to pay for their habit -- and
about 70 percent had been arrested and over half convicted of
a crime, with 30 percent former prisoners.
Dr Wilkins said the relationship between drug use and the
criminal justice system provided opportunities for
intervention.
"There are opportunities to short-circuit that relationship
... divert those people into treatment, into counselling," he
said.
This could be done at a range of points such as arrest,
conviction and imprisonment.
"We really need to do better in terms of offering those
solutions to offenders with serious drug problems," he said.
About 22 percent of P users had sought help for their drug
use but had been unable to get it.
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