Today is the final of a six-part series on the damage methamphetamine is doing to New Zealand and what we can do to fix it.
Calls from Auckland and the Waikato to the national alcohol and drug helpline leaped by a third in the first three months of this year.
Auckland/Waikato calls jumped from 1601 in the same three months of 2008 to 2141 this year, while calls from the rest of the country crept up by only 3 per cent.
Calls about methamphetamine, or P, were up 57 per cent in the two northern regions to 226; calls about cannabis rose 52 per cent to 223; and calls about alcohol rose 44 per cent to 1654. Calls about other drugs declined.
Cate Kearney of the Alcohol Drug Association, which runs the helpline, said the main factor driving overall call numbers was the hard-hitting Alac advertising campaign which started last April on the theme, "It's not the drinking, it's how we're drinking".
"The social marketing campaign has started to get conversations happening about alcohol," she said.
Reflecting this, the biggest increase in calls on a national basis was from men aged 25 to 44. Alcohol has steadily increased from 60 per cent of calls in 2004-05 to 76 per cent in the latest quarter.
Alac spokeswoman Lynne Walsh said the particularly big jump in Auckland and the Waikato might reflect radio advertising in holiday areas in January.
Police have also targeted Auckland with breath-testing blitzes, which doubled nationally in the year to last June. Helpline calls jump after each weekend blitz.
Ms Kearney said cannabis was still the second-biggest source of calls nationally, at 12 per cent, ahead of 8 per cent for methamphetamine. Meth calls peaked at 13 per cent in 2005-06, fell to 7.5 per cent in 2007-08 and have risen slightly to 8.5 per cent in the latest quarter.
"Cannabis is higher south of Taupo, P is higher north of Taupo," she said.
ALCOHOL DRUG HELPLINE - 0800 787 797
