Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Local Focus: P affecting teens in rural community

Bay of Plenty Times
10 Nov, 2017 04:02 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Katikati - another town opens up about battle with P. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

A youth worker concerned about the number of young people using P says an increasing number of New Zealanders are "desperately looking to escape from third world level poverty and homelessness".

Roy Nathan, a youth worker at Te Runanga o Ngai Tamawhariua, working with at-risk youth in the Katikati region, said he has helped 14 and 15-year-olds who had been given methamphetamine by family members.

Nathan said P users were getting younger.

"We've had families that are in Oranga Tamariki care that are presenting with children from the age of 10 months old that present with positive methamphetamine within their hair follicles.

"They get it free at first . . . it's a marketing ploy . . . so if they want it again they have to pay, and that is when there's a risk of turning to crime."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Born and bred in Katikati, Nathan said accessibility to methamphetamine was greater than ever.

"It's cheaper than a tinnie."

It was not just the increasing availability and cost driving meth use in cities and small communities, but underlying social issues, Nathan said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Meth is just the symptom . . . when you see some of the issues people are facing - lack of economic security, lack of a house, loss and grief, domestic violence - it is an escape from this misery. You won't solve the meth issue without looking at these social issues, which are getting worse."

Just a five-minute stroll down the road from Nathan's office, the "misery" of homelessness is starkly apparent with a paddock of caravans, cabins and vans where Nathan said families were living.

His services have helped house a couple with 10 children, including a young baby, who had been living in one of the caravans after the father had a stroke and the family lost their home.

The rising methamphetamine use in the community is being referred to as an intergenerational scourge by the organisers of a community hui in Katikati next week.

Discover more

Lifestyle

Local Focus: Community hub to regenerate Katikati CBD

04 Dec 05:45 PM

Speaking at the hui will be former P addict Natalie Ormsby, now 26 and a mother of three, who herself starting using the drug at just 14.

Lisa Corbett, teenage guidance counsellor at Katikati College, said while she was not seeing P usage directly with her students, she was aware of its greater presence in the community and that young people were being exposed to it.

"We're looking at prevention, information, education and awareness so that our students don't head down that same path."

Katikati police officer Steve Hindmarsh said the drug was always "lurking in the background".

While he has seen hard drugs in his 31 years of service in places from South Auckland to Queenstown, he said there were more people willing to try the "hard stuff".

Hindmarsh said he saw the impact of the drug throughout the community.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Only today I spoke with a landlord who had found, through a meth test on his vacated property, that it was contaminated and he was facing a $70,000 bill to clean the house and replace the furnishings. It's not only the users who get affected, it is the wider community and their family and friends."

When police were called to domestic disputes, P was often involved, he said.

"I dealt with a couple recently who were having a domestic dispute. It didn't take long to figure out that drug use was apparent in the relationship. P pipes and the telltale plastic point bags were found in their sleeping area," Hindmarsh said.

"They both admitted to problematic use of P and to being unemployed skilled people. I knew straight away that the drug use was why they weren't working and the physical signs were a giveaway. The relationship was volatile, they were broke and there were indications of violence in the relationship.

"These are the situations police come across regularly anywhere in NZ. Sooner or later hard drug use will come to the attention of the police when things come crashing down."

Hindmarsh said Western Bay of Plenty Police were setting up a Proceeds of Crime unit for the area which should make a significant impact on those profiting from crime.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Those making big money with no explanation as to how they are making it may find life a bit more difficult when the investigators come knocking."

Hindmarsh welcomed the seminar.

"Most people don't know about hard drugs and what signs to look out for. Many people don't know how to deal with a family member who is addicted to drugs or where to get help.

"Society needs to turn its back on drugs."

P awareness seminar
WHEN: November 14, 7pm to 9pm. Doors open 6pm
WHERE: Katikati War Memorial Hall
WHO: Keynote speaker Natalie Ormsby will share her real-life story about P addiction.
MC is Reon Tuanau, Te Runanga O Ngai Te Rangi Iwi Trust
ORGANISERS: Brave Hearts, Ngai Te Rangi and supported by the Breakthrough Forum, a hub of Western Bay community services.

Made with funding from

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Sport

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga's Sam Ruthe breaks two NZ records in LA

13 Jul 04:58 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Donations save school from brink of closure

13 Jul 12:01 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

The 16-year-old Tauranga runner lowered his own national U17 and U18 1500m records at the Sound Running Sunset Tour in Los Angeles. Video / Athletics NZ

Tauranga's Sam Ruthe breaks two NZ records in LA

Tauranga's Sam Ruthe breaks two NZ records in LA

13 Jul 04:58 AM
Donations save school from brink of closure

Donations save school from brink of closure

13 Jul 12:01 AM
'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

12 Jul 11:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP