Housing NZ plans P-lab crackdown

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Housing New Zealand is putting tenants who manufacture the drug P in state houses on notice.

It hopes to reduce P labs in its properties by training tenancy managers to spot the warning signs of the drug methamphetamine's use and manufacture.

The training programmes are run by anti-P advocacy company MethCon Group.

Managing director Mike Sabin is one of two people who teach the tenancy managers to spot the warning signs.

"What the training involves is understanding how the drug affects people and how to tell of a residence is being used for manufacture.

"First and foremost it's about safety."

Training is made up of two parts: how to tell if someone has been using, and how to tell if a house has been used as a P lab.

He said it is important to know if someone is "tweaking" - between the drug's initial rush and the comedown - because this is where they are most likely to be unstable.

They teach the tenancy managers how to manage a situation when a person is out of control on meth and how to protect themselves so they can get away from a bad situation.

They also teach people the tell-tale signs of a P lab, in particular, what the most common chemicals used and what contamination looks like.

Mr Sabin said it is rare to see a cooking apparatus set up in the day - most likely P is cooked in small hours of the morning - but there will be other signs of manufacture.

These include reddish/brown staining to surfaces, walls and ceilings, unlabelled jars and containers of clear liquids, collections of acids, bases,alcohols and salts, and chemical odours.

A house that is used for cooking P can be booby-trapped, have harmful chemical residue and can be at risk of fire or explosion.

He said while there are chemicals in a P lab, something as simple as switching on a light switch could be enough to ignite the volatile vapours used into a fireball.

Even if a house is no longer being used as a P lab, he said, the chemical residue can be dangerous and prolonged exposure can lead to cancer and other health problems.

Mr Sabin said the training had been a success. "The feedback has been excellent."

Northland housing manager Lisa McKerrow has been through the programme, and just had a team of staff go through it.

She said it was "very comprehensive".

"It's been great from a health and safety perspective," she said.

She said it was good for identifying hazards and gave staff the tools needed to keep themselves safe.

Between March 2004 and June 2008, 24 Housing New Zealand properties were tested and found to have methamphetamine contamination.

In April last year a Napier drug ring was made to pay more than $180,000 in damages after the state house they were cooking P in was so badly contaminated it had to be demolished.

This set a precedent where Housing New Zealand can chase anyone associated with running a P lab in a state home for property damages.

"Housing New Zealand will not tolerate unlawful activity in its homes and we will bankrupt those parties if it is in the taxpayer's interest," Williams said.

The average cost to test and clean up a house is around $4,500.