Fewer convicted of drugs crimes

Police are becoming smarter in the way they handle drug-use crimes.

Convictions for drug offending in the Bay of Plenty have dropped, fresh statistics show.

Data released by Statistics New Zealand showed 161 convictions were handed down by the Tauranga District Court for drug offences - a decrease from 168 in 2013. Drug offences include importing or exporting illicit drugs, dealing or trafficking drugs, manufacturing or cultivating drugs and possessing or using illicit drugs.

Bay of Plenty Police Detective Senior Sergeant Lindsay Pilbrow said drug cases were often uncovered during investigations into other crimes.

Lindsay Pilbrow

"There are a range of different factors which will affect conviction rates from year to year. Drugs are a driver behind other offending such as violence and dishonesty, so drugs offences are often unearthed during investigations into those crimes."

Mr Pilbrow said education, prevention and tackling drug supply were key factors in reducing the drug problem in New Zealand. "Our best investment is a primary focus on the manufacturers and dealers so that we can disrupt the supply chain," he said. "We continue to tackle drugs through a number of proactive operations and other police tactics, such as education and prevention in partnership with other agencies. The community also play a significant role in our fight against illicit drugs," he said.

Ross Bell

NZ Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said drug use, manufacturing and trafficking was a big problem. "Surveys done by the Ministry of Health routinely show that New Zealand has some of the highest illicit drug use in the world so it would make sense therefore, that that would be reflected in our crime stats around possession."

Mr Bell said the key to stemming the drug problem was to curb demand. "The law enforcement approach to drugs, which is hoping the police and the court will get rid of these problems, is a real limited and narrow-minded way of addressing the drug problem," he said. "What we argue is that if there is demand for drugs, then criminal gangs will find a way to supply that demand, so in this country we need to switch our attention onto reducing the demand for drugs. We will do that through prevention, good education, appropriate treatment for people who are in trouble."

Mr Bell said police were becoming smarter in the way they handled minor drug use. "In the drug area we have seen greater use of alternatives to punishment and that includes the police diversion scheme and in the past few years they have also been running the pre-charge warning scheme. "Police are trying to find ways to deal in a smart way with low-level drug use and are trying to find ways to channel people away from the law enforcement system."