KEY POINTS:
Reports that drug users are finding it harder to get amphetamines and the country's problem with drugs such as P is plateauing have been rubbished by police.
Two findings in the latest New Zealand Medical Journal are at odds with police and New Zealand Customs officials, who say they are a long way from winning the war against the country's most lethal Class A drugs.
The Medical Council said conclusions were based on research carried out in 1998, 2001, and 2003. About 5500 interviews were carried out in each of the first two surveys, and 3000 people took part in 2003.
While the proportion of users of amphetamines aged 15-45 increased from 1998 to 2001 from 7.6 per cent to 11 per cent, there was a slight decrease in the number of users from 2001 to 2003 (11 per cent to 9 per cent).
But more impressive was the decreased availability of the drug. Nearly one-quarter of users (24.5 per cent) said amphetamines were harder to come by in 2003, compared with 12.4 per cent in 2001.
However, Detective Sergeant Chris Gooch, of the Police Drug Intelligence Bureau, said the research was probably out of date.
"Statistics on seizures from combined police and customs operations since 2003 indicates the amount of methamphetamine imported and manufactured in New Zealand is not plateauing." If anything, the situation was worsening, he added.
His comments were backed up by New Zealand Customs manager of investigations, Bill Perry, who said amphetamines were the most common drug detected at the borders. It was clear international drug organisations were targeting this country using highly innovative methods, he said.
One of the researchers, Chris Wilkins, admitted the survey was limited to the situation in 2003 but said seizures were not as good as a survey for indicating consumption of the drug among the population.
Mr Wilkins said the more resources police and customs dedicated to detecting the drug, the higher the likelihood they had of finding it. More busts came as no surprise because authorities had a greater focus on the drug, he said, but he stood by his findings.
While a quarter of amphetamine users in 2003 thought the drug was becoming harder to get, that was outweighed by the nearly 50 per cent of their counterparts, who claimed it had become easier to obtain.
In 2003, six out of 10 people said the price of the drug had remained the same compared with the previous 12 months.
The article is at odds with the latest annual police report. It said New Zealand was continuing to follow global trends towards increasing use of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and Ecstasy.
"The importation of precursor substances used to illegally manufacture synthetic drugs, especially pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, continues to rise," it said. Increases in domestic production of amphetamine-type substances, such as pure methamphetamine (P), was linked to organised crime.
The police report also said overseas-based drug traffickers were understood to be playing an increasingly prominent role in targeting New Zealand as a destination or transit point.
Police statistics for the year ending 2005 found new drug offending had increased by 28.8 per cent since 2004. There were 922 offences in 2003, 1998 in 2004 and 2573 last year.
The journal said there was a greater public awareness of the health risks associated with methamphetamine use, and increased enforcement may have helped stabilise the drug problem.
It said that in 2002, methamphetamine use was implicated in a series of bizarre and extremely violent crimes in New Zealand, including a samurai sword attack and murder.
"The growing use of amphetamine has been linked to a range of public health and social problems including mental illness, drug dependence, intravenous drug use, family breakdown, violence and property crime," it said.
The report said amphetamine remained a drug of serious concern to New Zealand. Indications the drug was on the wane perhaps reflected "greater awareness of the health risks of methamphetamine use and a greater law enforcement focus on methamphetamine in recent years", the journal said.
Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton, responsible for the Government's drugs policy, said the report was good news. Although he was not naive enough to say the problem of methamphetamine use was solved, it was heartening to see positive results.
He said the Government had reclassified the drug as Class A, put tighter regulations around the ingredients used to produce the drug and had put more resources into enforcement.
Trafficking or manufacturing a Class A drug carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Cranked up
* Precursor tablets seized (2000 through to July 31, 2006): 10,300 (2000); 32,658 (2001); 830,300 (2003), 1.8 million (2004); 2.043 million (2005); 1.3 million (to July 31, 2006)
* Imported crystal methamphetamine seized: 2004, 26,000 grams; 2005, 15,000 grams; 2006 (to 31 July), 102,000 grams, including one haul in May of 95,000 grams.
* Each 1000 grams has an estimated street value of $1 million.
* Customs reports that so far this year it has seized $195.5 million of drugs bound for the domestic drug market in New Zealand.
