Small town winning battle to stamp out scourge of 'P'

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

The campaign to take the "P" out of Murupara seems to be working.

Police confirm that no pure methamphetamine laboratories have been found in the small Bay of Plenty forestry town since the community took a "P-free" stand six months ago.

Before that, several meth labs were busted in raids on homes, including those of gang members.

Now other centres, among them Whakatane, Opotiki and Te Puke, are taking action to keep the powerfully addictive Class A drug at bay.

The drug has been linked to violent killings and crimes elsewhere in New Zealand.

Concerned Murupara residents became the national frontrunners when they held a public meeting last August to confront the meth menace.

They set up a working party to raise awareness and to get the anti-drug message out, especially to schools.

Since then, the volunteers have been invited to address community groups and share their "in your face" strategy as far afield as Northland, Mangere and the Thames Valley.

Locally, part of the education process is a five-week Murupara Idol contest, starting this Friday. Local schools will select 36 children to show their talent. At the same time, the zero tolerance to drugs message will be slipped in at the public performances.

The audience will vote at next month's grand finale, with Sir Howard Morrison and nephew Temuera Morrison as celebrity judges.

Idol's aim is to build self-esteem, provide role models who are proud to be Maori and to stress that there is no future in "P".

"At first we called it the Muruara Idol, but people wanted the letter p put back in the name because they thought 'P' was successfully being kept out of the town and it wasn't a joke any more," said Jacob Te Kurapa, Murupara ward representative on the Whakatane District Council.

"By not being afraid to make a stand against this drug, we can take steps to eradicate it for the protection of our young people."

The working party is pushing ahead, despite battling bureaucracy and a lack of money to erect roadside signs advertising the town's P-free commitment.

Posters and stickers are prominent and the local radio station also keeps the message before the population of about 1800.

Representatives of public health groups, schools, churches, iwi, businesses, politicians and police are all promoting the campaign.

Bill Bird, chairman of local iwi authority Te Runanga O Ngati Manawa, said anti-P awareness and education had to be ongoing. Murupara was determined not to be a community with "a lot of talk" that was not backed up by sustainable action.