Methamphetamine is precluding basic parenting skills. Photo File
A few months back the start of my conversation with a police officer went something like this.
"Mark, how are you?"
"Good, yourself?"
"Well, I'd be better if half the region wasn't hooked on P."
While not intended to be taken literally, it wasn't meant ironically either.
Twenty years ago, who'd have thought we'd be dealing with the scale and modern availability of this monstrous drug?
From what we're hearing from police, from the local courts and rehabilitation centres, P is not far away from usurping alcohol as the country's most addictive substance.
A reformed drug addict earlier this year said it had become more accessible than cannabis.
What's alarming is the under-the-radar manner in which it's infiltrated ranks across all demographics.
But while its presence seems to have been achieved insidiously, its symptoms are anything but stealthy.
Local group Nannies Against P, who this week announced their intention to create a safe house for families affected, formed in March this year due in part to the sad "rapid behaviour change" of meth users in their family circles.
Among other things, the group is pushing for education about the "tell-tale signs of the drug" as most people didn't recognise the symptoms of someone using methamphetamine.
Knowing what we do about this menace, and the fact grandparents and great-grandparents are having to take a stand, suggests many pensioners have become default caregivers to their grandchildren due to the tragic addiction of parents.
Hence we're now facing an intergenerational scourge. Kudos to the nannies for fronting - and fighting.
'We could have carried on ... but when we found it, the damage was already huge.'