Drug arrests in region double

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Latest crime statistics show arrests for drug crimes in the Western Bay have more than doubled in the past five months.

Newly-released Statistics New Zealand figures showed there were a total of 312 illicit drug crimes recorded in this police district in the past 10 months since a new way of recording monthly crime figures was introduced.

Since December, the number of recorded drug crimes in the Western Bay rose from 21 a month to 45 in April - a jump of 114.2 per cent.

In a written statement, Western Bay police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton said the surge in recorded drug crimes was because significant focus was being placed on tackling organised crime and the impact it had on the community.

"Western Bay of Plenty police will continue to focus on organised crime groups and other individuals that manufacture, sell and distribute drugs to our community. This includes the illegal distribution of psychoactive substances," Mr Paxton said.

"Significant harm arose through the use, distribution and sales of drugs and we will continue to focus on those that cause such harm to our community. Drug use, sales and distribution is not a victimless crime. Police are seeing significant offending, both against people and property, arising through the use, sales and distribution of drugs."

Ross Bell, the executive director of the NZ Drug Foundation, said the latest crime statistics were "interesting" as they were more an indication of where police were placing their efforts, rather than a reflection about the scale of the problem.

Mr Bell said addiction help agencies had expected a huge surge in the number of people seeking treatment after synthetic cannabis was made illegal but that did not happen.

"But we also know there is a steady synthetic cannabis black market. If people can't readily obtain their supply of synthetics some will opt to buy cannabis," he said. Mr Bell said there was growing research that showed more seniors were also turning to cannabis for medicinal purposes.

A 2012-2013 New Zealand Health Survey into cannabis use found 11 per cent of the 13,000 adults interviewed for the study reported using cannabis, 42 per cent for medicinal purposes.

The highest reported rates among users for medicinal users were aged over 55.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board's Youth Alcohol and Other Drug Services co-ordinator Caleb Putt said there was no observable change in the nature of referrals since synthetic cannabis was made illegal.

"What has changed is that less people worked with by Sorted have tried synthetic cannabis products since the ban ... young people referred to Sorted tend to have issues with binge drinking or regular cannabis use, or both. Demand for Sorted service has remained stable," he said. A total of 5694 crimes were recorded in the Western Bay for the 10 months to April 30 this year.