A lack of detox beds is sending P addicts in Gisborne back to their dealers instead of seeking help, community advocates say.
Buying meth in Gisborne easier than ever – community workers
02:00
A community advocate says buying drugs in the region is a problem which is growing.
Source: ONE News
They say there is a growing meth problem on the East Coast, where some say it is easier to get a bag of P in the region than cannabis.
Recent police raids in the area caught 41 offenders, twice as many as in a similar operation in Auckland the same week.
Former gang member turned community worker, Tuta Ngarimu, says the problem is getting worse.
“We’ve got two of the mob who’ve come and seen me and they want to send two of their boys away.”
Problem is, the District Health Board says there are no detox beds for P addicts in Gisborne, meaning people are sent to Hamilton and Rotorua instead.
“There’s just no places for them to go but back to their dealer because there is no resource,” Tricia Walsh, a former addict-turned social worker says.
Detective Sergeant Kevin Ford said it was true that in the Eastern District it was just as easy to get P as it was to get marijuana.
In everyday warrant searches police used to find bucket bongs and knives, but now, as well as still finding those implements police were also finding meth pipes as a matter of course.
In the recent 10 day operation at the beginning of the month there were a number of children who were caught up in the raids. That sickened him.
“The reality is the parents who are dealing be it cannabis be it meth, the children in those houses – it’s not much of a life.”
In 2015 police seized 334kgs of meth nationally, three times as much as the year before when it seized 98kgs.
In 2013 the figure was only 36kgs.
Generally, meth is worth about $1 million a kilogram.
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