Toxic powder passed as drugs

Toxic chemicals have been found for sale in snaplock drug deal bags.

It is the most extreme example showing that when it comes to drugs, it is a case of let the buyer beware.

Analysis by scientists at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research found white powder in one sample of snaplock bags last year was phenol, used in the manufacturing of resins and as a disinfectant.

Skin exposure to high levels of phenol can lead to liver damage and haemolytic anaemia.

"To look at it, you couldn't tell what it was, but it was incredibly dangerous," said a senior ESR scientist, spoken to on condition of anonymity because of the nature of her work.

"We had a case in the last six months where a snaplock bag had acrylamide.

"It's a white powder and you just can't tell." Acrylamide was at the centre of the so-called "poisoned professor" case where the Crown alleged a Christchurch academic had been left paralysed by exposure to the chemical.

Scientific analysis of samples has also raised questions about the quantity and purity of what is on offer.

While many methamphetamine deals are sold in what are called "point bags", supposed to contain 0.1gram, many of the samples analysed at ESR contained less than that - often less than half.

But perhaps the biggest fraud on consumers is the marketing strategy that crystal methamphetamine, known as the party drug Ice, is a more pure form of P.

In fact, the purity is most often exactly the same - 80 per cent.

"There is very little difference between P and Ice," said the scientist.

Meanwhile, a United Nations drug report has found prices here for methamphetamine were the highest in the world.

When it was measured in 2002, people paid more than US$400 a gram - twice the rate in the United States, and more than 100 times more than what was paid in many Asian cities.

Ecstasy pills were said to be selling in this country for US$38, compared with US$9 in Britain and US$3 in Holland.

* Police no longer have as many officers specifically looking at gangs, but the effort put into cracking down on organised crime has not diminished, says a senior policeman.

Assistant Commissioner Peter Marshall was responding to criticism from frontline officers who questioned whether enough effort was being put into targeting gangs.

Instead of gang-dedicated staff, the police had intelligence officers whose role included watching gangs, he said.