Slim pickings on P march

The turnout on the P march in Rotorua may have disappointed some, but work to rid the city and the Bay of Plenty region of the drug continues in earnest - and is meeting with some success.

On Tuesday, Inspector Wally Haumaha, police national Maori strategy adviser and officer in charge of public safety on the march, said he was disappointed at the small number of people in Rotorua - his hometown - who joined the marchers.

Mr Haumaha said that P was rife in the Bay of Plenty and locals could have done more to express their concern.

Rotorua mayor Kevin Winters, deputy mayor Trevor Maxwell, and Sir Howard Morrison joined the 100 or so marchers.

Mr Winters, also a little disappointed at the turnout, said: "We stopped the traffic. Horns were tooted. People were very supportive as we walked down the streets."

Mr Winters believed the march would gather momentum the closer it got to Wellington, where it is due today, in the same way as the seabed and foreshore hikoi.

Tackling the problems caused by the drug was important because, "in a community, you can't close the door on these issues and pretend they'll go away. They won't."

Those working on anti-P initiatives in the Bay of Plenty agree.

"We should be under no illusion that it's an uphill battle," said Ngaiterangi Iwi runanga manager Paul Stanley.

Mr Stanley said fewer busts of P labs were taking place but P-related crime continued and addicts still needed help.

Paul Bennett, a former drug addict who works in drug and alcohol education in the region, said more must be done to raise awareness of P's dangers. He supported the marchers' calls for P education becoming part of the school curriculum.

In Murupara, which declared itself a P-free zone unofficially a few years ago and with Government help last year, attitudes are hardening.

Whakatane District councillor Jacob Te Kurapa, who lobbied Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton for the funding involved in the strategy, said P-free signs, posters, bumper stickers - and more recently, wristbands - had heightened and maintained awareness of P's dangers.

"The community still feel that methamphetamine is a deadly drug."

Local police sergeant, Rob Hutchins, said P manufacture in Murupara had dropped from 2004, when three labs were busted. "Since then, we haven't come across any," he said.

Bay of Plenty district commander Superintendent Gary Smith said the situation had improved across the region.

But the supply of precursor drugs into the region had continued, despite pharmacies not selling them, as distribution methods had changed.

Today

Paraparaumu (Aorangi Rd) 9.15am.

Porirua (Te Rauparaha Park) 10.15am.

Wellington (Railway Station) 11.15am march to Parliament. Note: times may vary.

How you can help

Make a donation to the FightAgainstP bank account at any ASB bank, account number 12-3023-0632784-00.

Donate food to feed the marchers, petrol for the transport, T-shirts, printing, buses, mini-buses and advertising. 

Visit the website to find out more.