'P' habit has strong grip over users

By Carly Udy
Awake for almost a fortnight and fuelled by P, Tauranga's Adam Ronald Leatham was likely to have been suffering from delusions and a combination of impulsive, controlling and paranoid behaviour before committing armed robbery.
David Benton, clinic director at Tauranga's Hanmer Clinic, said the long-term use of P "fairly permanently" destroyed the brain.
Mr Benton's comments came after inquiries from the Bay of Plenty Times as to the way P affects sleeping.
Leatham's terrifying hold-up at Cherrywood's Westpac on May 23 was revealed in Tauranga District Court earlier this week, when the 22-year-old pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated robbery and one of assault with intent to rob.
Defence lawyer Craig Tuck said his client had been awake for 12 days straight when the offence occurred.
Mr Benton said P had a strong physiological control overs its users.
"You just automatically do it. What the stimulant does is disrupt the normal nervous system and communication in the brain. Meth stimulates the pleasure/pain pathway and works the limbic reward part of the brain. Like chocolate, you say you won't have another piece, and then you do."
Mr Benton said P caused the brain to be over-stimulated and it also increased the level of dopamine in the brain, boosting "motor activity".
"It has a similar effect to adrenaline," he said. "When you're pumped with adrenaline you operate at a level you wouldn't normally."
When asked just how long a P user could go without sleep, Mr Benton said users went on "runs".
"They'll use for whatever length of time, but can't continue to use it indefinitely so they actually stop using it ... either money runs out, supply runs out or they just become exhausted with it.
"Certain individuals who use high dosages may be prone to intense violence, especially if they experience delusions ... Chronic intoxication wears off within 24 hours, that's a single dosage."
He said P users often experienced a combination of impulsive, controlling and paranoid behaviour as well as poor judgement, which could lead to criminal behaviour and grandiosity - "they think they're bulletproof".
Mr Benton said there was a drug and alcohol treatment programme at the Hanmer Clinic for chronic users. Numbers admitted for P addiction were "somewhat increased" but still ran "a good third" behind alcohol and marijuana addiction.
"There is an increased use of stimulants among young people - the age group that presents here is mid-20s to 40s."
He said P was extensively used over a wide cross-section of society. He said the detoxification from P could be days or weeks, depending on individual usage and how the brain is affected."It can be six to 18 months for a person to feel comfortable without drugs, that's why we run a two-year programme ... it can generate quite severe depression along with the potential for suicide."