There are claims methamphetamine is now as easy to source as alcohol in Queenstown.
A former Queenstowner warns the resort's problems with drugs and alcohol are escalating on a par with the rest of New Zealand.
"In Queenstown it's well and truly on the ground and it's only going to continue to grow, methamphetamine particularly," alcohol and drug treatment navigator Denise Cloughley says.
Though based in Auckland, Cloughley's client base includes Queenstowners.
She's speaking after police recovered more than $200,000 worth of meth, or P, in a raid on a Queenstown property last week.
After charging a 36-year-old man with possession for supply, police also warned that gangs were bringing a growing amount of meth into the Otago Lakes area.
"What I find in Queenstown is there's a high percentage of people in the hospitality industry, especially chefs, that are suffering from addiction to drugs and alcohol.
"They're needing to work long hours, and finding meth helps them with that."
Cloughley notes that cocaine and MDMA use is also on the rise.
Meth is highly addictive, she warns.
"Then it just becomes a vicious cycle.
"You're trying to work to make the money to support your habit [though your work performance suffers].
"You start selling things, you start stealing things.
"Ninety-nine per cent of the time, in cases I work with, they've stolen or demanded or stood over people for money."
However she's also concerned with alcohol addiction levels in Queenstown.
People use it to handle work or financial pressure, she says, though the resort's social environment can also be a trap.