Jean Robinson says P is far worse than heroin. Picture / Kenny Rodger
An educational reality-type docudrama showing a young man's descent into full-blown P abuse is about to hit secondary schools.
Told through the eyes of a teenage girl,Sophie's Story is a harrowing account of the effects P has on families and youth, who a drug education group warns are
trying it earlier.
The school resource is the brainchild of Jean Robinson, chairwoman of the Papatoetoe Neighborhood Support Trust.
Ms Robinson said the DVD would be sent to secondary schools throughout the country.
"It really is a horrendous drug - heroin used to be the worst but this drug is way beyond that and there's absolutely no escape once you're hooked," said Ms Robinson.
The docudrama comes at the same time Welltrust executive officer Murray Trenberth told NZPA the drug was becoming more prevalent among youth.
Mr Trenberth said the price for a "hit" of P had dropped to $60 from $120 last year and teenagers as young as 14 were experimenting with it.
He said the 20 per cent of youths addicted to marijuana by the age of 16 were likely to try P.
Police Association vice president, Richard Middleton, said Sophie's Story was "absolutely timely".
"No doubt their research is correct and if you have intermediate school-age children using and abusing cannabis there's no reason they won't be trying methamphetamine," he said.
Mr Middleton said criminals involved in producing methamphetamine could not care less.
"We have seen a number of busted labs in homes where P has been manufactured and the children's milk for Weetbix was kept in the fridge next to the chemicals they used," he said.
Ms Robinson, who is the personal assistant to the Counties Manukau district commander for police, said her experiences in dealing with families affected by the drug went back to the late 1990s.
"I was getting a lot of calls from concerned parents who were totally helpless and had no idea of what this drug was or what to do with their sons who had become hooked on P," she said.
Ms Robinson said the availability of the drug was "terrifying" and the problem was now a community responsibility.
