The Northland town where the drug methamphetamine is an ‘epidemic’

Kaikohe is in the midst of a methamphetamine epidemic, locals say. Photo / NZME

Kaikohe locals believe methamphetamine use in their town has reached epidemic proportions, with the drug easily found on every street corner.

With a population around 4500, the rural town is in the heart of Northland, which has the unenviable title of the meth capital of New Zealand. Most recent wastewater testing done for police shows nearly 2000mg of meth per day is consumed per 1000 Northlanders.

Kaikohe local and recovering user Lesley Allen said the highly addictive drug is hard to avoid in the small town.

“It’s definitely an epidemic. I managed to relapse three times,” she said.

“People stand up on the street and try and sell it. I’ve had teenagers selling meth here at the takeaway shop.”

But while Allen said meth use is rampant in Kaikohe, she believed it is rampant everywhere in New Zealand.

Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub in Kaikohe is all about supporting recovering meth addicts, including through peer support, say Deeann Kopa, Lesley Allen, Karo Tamehana, Rhonda Zielinski and Hailey Parata. Photo / Denise Piper

People turn to meth when they feel they don’t have purpose, when they are suffering from trauma or when Māori are suffering the impacts of colonisation, she said.

Having used the drug since she was a teenager, Allen knows a fair amount about meth, racking up a long rap sheet of criminal charges along the way.

But she credits Kaikohe-based Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub for supporting her to get clean, including staying by her side and getting her to detox when she relapsed.

The organisation, led by registered nurse Rhonda Zielinski, offers wraparound support for recovering meth addicts.

It has a large building on Kaikohe’s main street open to all and counts former gang leaders among its mentors.

The Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub team includes Rhonda Zielinski, pictured with grandchild, alcohol and other drug clinicians Bess Pehi and Stu Eiao and peer support worker Deeann Kopa. Photo / Denise Piper

Zielinski said the aim is to be a new family for recovering drug addicts who have cut off association with their own family because family members are still using.

She has demonstrated these whānau connections first-hand by putting 12 cabins on her own land, for people to live in when there was no other accommodation available.

It comes with conditions including being clean and sober, and regularly coming down to the hub, but there’s no time limit on how long people can stay, Zielinski said.

“Places like this work because we’re allowed to do things differently – I just hope this new Government doesn’t stop all these amazing things.”

‘If people are calling it an epidemic we need to listen’

Te Tai Tokerau meth harm reduction programme Te Ara Oranga started in 2017 because kaumātua and kuia wanted to know more about the drug that was ruining their whānau, said chairperson Richard Dick.

If Kaikohe residents say methamphetamine is an epidemic in the town, the programme needs to listen, he said.

Ivy Te Nana and Richard Dick from Te Ara Oranga say their door is always open to people wanting treatment for methamphetamine addiction. Photo / Denise Piper

Te Ara Oranga is unique because it offers a partnership between police and Health NZ. The aim is to reduce meth-related crime and harm by treating the underlying addiction.

Many other partners are involved, including the Salvation Army bridge programme that Dick is director of, plus other service providers, hapū and iwi.

These multiple partnerships mean addicts can be referred any number of ways, such as from police, through their GP, through a self-referral or by whānau, said co-ordinator Ivy Te Nana.

“Our kōrero is ‘no door is the wrong door’. Any door that you walk through, we can direct you to the right specialist care.”

In 2024, Te Ara Oranga Te Tai Tokerau treated 789 cases, including 95 people referred for treatment by police. While it focuses on meth addiction, often people are often also addicted to other drugs, like alcohol.

Dick said more work needs to be done to reach people in the Kaikohe community.

On the bustling main street of Kaikohe, Broadway, the police station competes for attention from vape stores. Photo / Denise Piper

“I would acknowledge there is a problem and the solution is in the community as much as it is within health providers,” he said.

“Rather than stigmatising Kaikohe, Kaikohe has the answer.”

Dick and Te Nana both point to organisations like Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub for its work, which includes waiata, gym sessions and kapa haka.

Former meth addict now hub peer support worker Deeann Kopa is also happy to sing the praises of the hub.

She has just marked 10 years being clean and sober, and recently marked the milestone of becoming a homeowner, offering a stable home for her mokopuna.

Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub’s success can be seen in people like Kopa, who are not only sober but have got further education to become a clinician, she said.

“I’m here for the people because I’ve been through domestic violence, prison, trauma and sexual violation – I know,” Kopa said.

“It’s really whānau-based, this mahi.”

The Northern Advocate approached police for comment about both Te Ara Oranga and its meth harm reduction programme but it did not provide comment by edition time.

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.