Sunday's meeting seeks to explore solutions to combat the pervasive impact of methamphetamine addiction.
Sunday's meeting seeks to explore solutions to combat the pervasive impact of methamphetamine addiction.
With concerns mounting over the escalating methamphetamine crisis in the Western Bay of Plenty, health advocates are rallying the community for a crucial discussion this Sunday.
Community connector Tommy Wilson is spearheading efforts to establish a residential rehabilitation unit in the Western BOP, aiming to shift the narrative around meth addiction from a criminal issue to a medical one.
Highlighting alarming statistics derived from wastewater testing, Tommy underscores the urgent need for action in what he says is a “meth pandemic”.
The meeting, at 4pm at Tutereinga Marae, Te Puna, seeks to galvanise community support and explore sustainable solutions to combat the pervasive impact of methamphetamine addiction.
“We are trying to help the families who have children and grandchildren affected by methamphetamine addiction,” Wilson said.
He said the format of the meeting would provide opportunity for families affected by methamphetamine to ask questions of a panel.
Tommy Wilson. Photo / NZME
“Hanmer Clinic’s CEO Sue Hancock, Hanmer Clinic founder David Benton, Dr Tony Farrell, ex-addicts, police and iwi leaders will form the panel.”
Farrell, a Mount Maunganui GP specialising in addiction medicine, emphasised the ripple effects of addiction on families and the strain it placed on existing healthcare services.
With 30 years of GP experience, and a Fellowship of Addiction Medicine since 2003, he brings a great deal of knowledge and focus around healthcare to the meeting.
“It goes way back to when I was a young GP and thought taking a history of someone’s drug taking would be helpful to their ongoing care,” Farrell said.
“You start to see that this is a chronic disease and that it can be manageable. People need support, not scorn.”
During his early years as a GP, Farrell started providing methadone services for opioid-dependent people who had opioid and other addictions.
“I kept coming across people with alcohol dependence as well as people with methamphetamine dependence and abuse.”
Since becoming a Hanmer Clinic trustee, he’s worked closely with Benton on developing a responsive service for people with addiction problems.
“People would present and I could sort out the medical side and refer them to David who could help with other areas of depression, and provide social support for people, such as with Winz. Hanmer could get in behind them and support them so they could function.”
He welcomed Wilson’s idea to set up a triage centre for families affected by addicted loved ones.
“A lot of meth addicts don’t need hospitalisation but need a period of support to calm them down. Somewhere they can get sleep, help for staying off drugs, and have stresses taken off them like unsavoury characters wanting money off them,” Farrell said.
Tony Farrell is a GP who specialises in addiction. Photo / Andrew Warner
“Support in the community is sparse. If someone has an addiction to something it usually affects between seven to 10 people adversely.”
Wilson said the families were on their own “and this crisis was much more widespread than they might realise.
“The hui is about working together on solutions. We can’t keep leaving it to police and hospitals.”
He said the community was capable of anything if it came together.
As the Sunday meeting aimed to foster collaboration and advocate for increased funding for addiction services, Wilson planned to establish the Te Puna Tūmanako Trust, which meant “spring” or “fountain of hope”.
In partnership with local Māori iwi and trusts, with support from police and government, he aimed to put together a programme that offers a beacon of hope for families grappling with the devastating effects of methamphetamine use.
The hui will be held at Tutereinga Marae at 4pm, on Sunday, May 26.
