Nearly 1kg of meth is used every week in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / File
Meth is "peddling misery" in the Bay of Plenty as wastewater testing reveals nearly 1kg - or up to 24,000 hits - of the Class A drug is used in the region each week.
Support services say they are seeing more meth users with mental health struggles, and families are also seeking medical attention due to drug-fuelled violence in their homes.
The latest findings from the New Zealand Police wastewater drug testing programme reveal the average daily drug use per 1000 people in each policing district between November last year and January.
The scheme tests for meth, ecstasy (MDMA), cocaine, fentanyl and heroin in what is, essentially, a national urine test.
The Bay of Plenty had one of the worst recorded methamphetamine use per capita in the country, with 800mg used per day, exceeding the national average.
This was about the same as the East Coast region, and behind Northland which had around 850mg.
Methamphetamine remains the most commonly detected illicit drug nationwide, with 13.1kg used each week, down from the previous three months where an average of 13.6kg was used weekly.
But instead of following the national trend, the region increased an average of 200mg a day over the same period. This quarter was, however, down from the May to July period last year which sat at 900mg per day.
The estimated average weekly meth use across the region was 966g.
Brave Hearts NZ founder Erin O'Neill said 1g provided 10 to 25 "hits" depending on who was using it, and one hit could last "a lot less" for frequent users.
This meant the number of hits across the region was up to 24,000 every week.
O'Neill said the number of families wanting support and advice was rising and had been for the past 20 years.
As a result, they saw more grandparents raising grandchildren, a rise in crime, and financial issues.
Wastewater samples were collected from sites labelled Tauranga beach, Tauranga city, Whakatāne, Rotorua, Tokoroa, Ōpōtiki, Taūpo, and Kawerau. Meth was the most prevalent drug from each site.
Kawerau was the worst in the country with 95 per cent prevalence. Tokoroa was the third-worst in the country with 91 per cent positive testing for the substance.
Tauranga city was 52 per cent and Tauranga beach 55 per cent.
Regional manager for Lifewise Rotorua and Bay of Plenty Haehaetu Barrett said families were being "torn apart" as the service saw an increase in the demand for their facilities, and recovery and accommodation services.
"The addiction takes over a lot of decision making in the family home."
Despite addiction being individual, the "high-level impacts" caused a ripple effect from finances to sometimes fatal outcomes.
She said family members looking after loved ones also needed support, and this was important to look at when considering service provisions.
Support needed to be provided for "at least two years" once a person was clean, as it was easy to relapse once out of a rehabilitation centre.
She said the increased demand showed the need for support for prevention work through community services, and more support was needed for community groups, volunteers, and marae who were often the first port of call for someone battling addiction.
Doctors and police
Bay of Plenty District Health Board emergency medicine specialist Dr Derek Sage said the main problems they experienced were behavioural and include aggression and violence towards staff.
"And we are witness to the domestic violence issues associated with a life linked to these poisons."
Sage said the impact was societal, and as a society, there was a need to analyse the reasons this drug was being used.
This was likely linked to psychosocial issues resulting from socioeconomic conditions.
"If we want healthy, thriving communities the answer lies in addressing the issues further upstream than when people reach the doors of the Emergency Department."
The board's mental health and addictions portfolio manager Caleb Putt said meth was increasingly seen as a primary substance those individuals seeking support for addiction treatment, particularly residential services.
An increase in supply and drop in the cost of meth in recent years was one of the many reasons he believed there was such an uptake of the drug.
Bay of Plenty police Detective Senior Sergeant John Wilson said the link between meth and organised criminal groups was clear.
"These groups don't care about the immeasurable harm they are causing in their own communities, which is why police must continue to target and prosecute these gangs."
He said financial gain was the primary motivation for those supplying meth.
"Police continue to seize their ill-gotten gains through the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act and make sure these groups don't see the benefits of peddling misery in the community."
The "devastating impact" was especially felt by youth and vulnerable people, he said, affecting not only the person using it but their families, friends and their wider community."
Earlier this month, Labour leader Jacinda Ardern said Northland's Te Ara Oranga programme - where police and health partner to help problem meth users - would be rolled out to 4000 more people in regions high-use areas including the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast.
It would cost $38 million over four years.
"It reduces supply through targeted enforcement, and reduces demand by steering drug users into recovery and treatment programmes and helping them find work," Ardern had said.
A spokesman for Health Minister Chris Hipkins said implementing the Labour Party's election policies was a task for the new Government which is yet to be sworn in.
"Nevertheless, the people of [the] Bay of Plenty can be assured the new Government is committed to building on recent work to improve outcomes for those dealing with meth and other drug issues."
This commitment included increased capacity at the Bay of Plenty specialist addiction services to be provided over the next four years.
Funding for three years for the Eastern Bay Iwi Provider Alliance to run Mauri Oho – Working to Reduce Harm of Methamphetamine until 2023. This would provide individualised treatment and support services to address meth harm for whānau, supporting up to 80 people each year.
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