Pushers tempt children with free hits of pure 'P'

A Hastings community worker says drug dealers are giving children a free hit of pure methamphetamine or "P" for every six they sell on the streets.

Karen Nicol, the organiser of a seminar on P, said she knew of children as young as 11 who were selling the drug.

"The kids I work with on the streets tell me they can get this drug more easily than cigarettes."

Ms Nicol said she had worked in the field of drug and alcohol abuse for years, but the effects of P were more severe than anything she had previously seen.

Former Black Power member Dennis O'Reilly told those at Thursday's seminar that he became opposed to P after he saw it destroy a friend and former gang leader.

"He was a good man who didn't drink or smoke, but he had a puff of this damn stuff, liked it and wanted more - and in 18 months he developed a screaming psychosis and suicided in the most awful way."

He suggested the Government ban pseudoephedrine - a chemical in over-the-counter flu remedies used to manufacture P.

Hastings Detective Darren Pritchard said so far this year police had busted 150 P labs, more than in all of last year.

- NZPA