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.
Val Harris's son Jamie was stabbed to death after he fell into a life of P addiction, gang connections and petty crime.
She believes the turning point came when a judge sentenced him to jail for drunk driving two years earlier.
The Hawkes Bay mother thought she had arranged forher adopted son to be admitted for addiction treatment at Odyssey House in Auckland.
But a visiting judge - who remarked, "I see you have had an unfortunate upbringing" - sent him to jail instead.
Mrs Harris said that by the time Jamie came out he was heavily into hard drugs, including P, and in debt to the gang members he had met in jail, which pushed him into burglary and other crime.
Last year, he was fatally stabbed by his former girlfriend, Jessie Brown, the daughter of a Mongrel Mob member.
She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced in November to five years and six months in prison.
Mrs Harris responded to the Herald's War on P series last May, saying the law had to change to give young people like Jamie the chance to become worthwhile citizens.
"For my son a court-ordered sentence to a rehabilitation centre two years ago may have saved his life and the subsequent pain and loss our family has suffered."
Last month, she said prison was definitely not the answer.
"Once they get sent to jail, they've really had it because they keep their habit going and when they come out they're in debt, one way or the other, to the gangs.
"If you can get them away from jail and get them into rehab units or addiction centres and get them treated - and I don't mean two weeks, I mean long term - then they've got a chance."
The 65-year-old nurse has responded to her family's tragedy by becoming a JP this year.
She wants to do further training so that she can hear cases "to make sure that people like Jamie don't go to jail".
