Community called on to join fight against P

Relying on the police to protect young people from the drug P is not enough, youth workers and prostitutes' representatives said yesterday.

They were responding to a warning from District Court and Youth Court Judge John Walker that young girls were apparently turning to prostitution to fund their use of pure methamphetamine, known as P.

Judge Walker wrote to Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton and Justice Minister Phil Goff in May asking for urgent action to be taken and offering to meet them to discuss it.

Mr Anderton replied that the judge's concerns had been passed on to his staff.

Prostitutes Collective spokeswoman Catherine Healy said yesterday that the apparent popularity of P among young people showed the need for more youth support.

"I think we've got good models appearing in pockets around the country but not enough to ensure that young people are going to make safe choices," she said.

Maori leader Pita Sharples, who heads a national youth drug programme, said he knew of two 9-year-olds found with P-making tools in their lunch bags.

P was being used by many 11, 12, 13 and 14-year-olds, he told National Radio.

"There are always horror stories that come up," he said.

"It is not enough for us to rely on police to track down the labs and lay traps for those who are distributing. It needs to be a whole-of-New Zealand approach ... to just say, 'No'.

"The way to do it is to embrace anyone you know who is on P and try and get them off it. We should confront the gang leaders and cooks who are making the drugs."

Dr Sharples said Western Australia had brought in legislation that hit the cooks in their pockets.

"If you're caught then you lose everything - your house, your car, etc.

"I've talked to a couple of politicians about that, but they just nodded and said, 'Western Australia's a bit different', but the drug's not different.

"In every community and every extended family of any ethnic group, there is somebody on P."

In his letter, Judge Walker said local drug dealers were giving girls free samples of P.

He warned that the "anticipated upsurge" in use of the highly addictive drug was being seen in the Youth Court in Christchurch, Wellington and Lower Hutt.

Mr Anderton replied that the Government's reclassification of methamphetamine to a Class A drug was just the first step in a plan to combat the narcotic.

A spokesman for Mr Goff said the Government had already begun a review of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Once it was completed Mr Goff would consider its findings and decide whether the law needed amending.

Ms Healy said drug abuse had long been a health and safety issue within the industry, but most sex workers were not drug takers. However, many were aged between 20 and 30, when many people experimented with drugs.

Sex worker Evalynne Ericsen said yesterday that since arriving in Marlborough two years ago she had lost custody of her children, her flat and her possessions and had ended up with a major P problem.

"There are four working girls who have come to this town that have ended up with P problems," she said. "You're introduced to the drug and before you know it you owe lots of money."

Ms Ericsen said P helped her with the demands of working two jobs and solo parenting.

"After work I was able to get my kids to school and make sure that I still had a family life. When I was on P, I could be mum, dad, aunty and uncle.

"I was getting split into two different people. Instead of realising that I am not six feet tall, I was wrecking everything. It's wrecked me as a person and as a mum."

She had spent $700 a day on P and hardly ate or slept.

Although she had been free of the drug for nearly six months, the temptation to go back to it was always there.

"I can't work in this industry. If I earn large amounts of money I go and get some P," she said.

"All of the other girls who have major P problems have lost their kids to Child, Youth and Family or the other parent."

- NZPA

Herald Feature: The P epidemic