The Herald's War on P series last year produced an overwhelming reaction from readers and a swift response from the Government. This week, we revisit the people and the issues to find out what has changed.
A recent crackdown on P ingredients in China is a good omen for attempts to fight the drug in New Zealand, say police and customs officials.
Last month Chinese authorities said they had seized 44 tonnes of ephedrine, enough to make 10 tonnes of methamphetamine.
The operation appears to be the first major success by local anti-drug agencies against the New Zealand meth trade's raw ingredient , which is widely sold as a legal over-the-counter medicine in China.
Superintendent John Doyle, who works in the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing, said it was encouraging to see such a big seizure after years of working on building co-operation with Chinese police.
The main source of pseudoephedrine was the cold medicine Contact NT, which was made in a single factory owned by the multinational drug company GlaxoSmithKline.
Mr Doyle said police and GlaxoSmithKline were confident that drugs were not being diverted from the factory or even from initial wholesalers.
The most likely source was third-level wholesalers, which sold in bulk to criminal gangs.
His customs counterpart, Matt Roseingrave, who has just returned from Beijing, said police had tried to identify the sellers by tracing batch numbers but this had proved difficult in such a vast country.
He said criminals were also buying supplies in large quantities from ordinary pharmacies.
The Chinese authorities had responded with a new law limiting purchases to smaller amounts, which was helpful.
But some buyers and sellers were clearly still finding a way around it.
