Detective Sergeant Dan Foley of the Napier CIB outside a Housing New Zealand dwelling used for manufacturing P. The drug ring responsible was forced to pay more than $180,000 in damages. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today
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.
Housing New Zealand is putting tenants who manufacture the drug P in state houses on notice.
It hopes to reduce P labs in its properties by training tenancy managers to spot the warning signs of methamphetamine's use and manufacture.
The training programmes are run by anti-P advocacy company MethCon Group.
Managing director Mike Sabin is one of two people who teach tenancy managers to spot the warning signs.
"What the training involves is understanding how the drug affects people and how to tell if a residence is being used for manufacture.
"First and foremost, it's about safety," said Mr Sabin.
Training comprises two parts: how to tell if someone has been using and how to tell if a house has been used as a P lab.
He said it was important to know if someone was "tweaking" - between the drug's initial rush and the comedown - because this was when they were most likely to be unstable.
MethCon teaches the tenancy managers how to manage a situation when a person is out of control on meth and how to protect themselves so they can get away from a bad situation.
It also teaches people the telltale signs of a P lab - in particular, what the most common chemicals used are and what contamination looks like.
Mr Sabin said it was rare to see P-cooking apparatus set up in the day - it is most likely to be cooked in the early hours of the day - but there would be other signs of manufacture.
These include reddish/brown staining to surfaces, walls and ceilings, unlabelled jars and containers of clear liquids, collections of acids, bases, alcohols and salts, and chemical odours.
A house that is used for cooking P can be booby-trapped, have harmful chemical residue and can be at risk of fire or explosion.
Mr Sabin said that while there were chemicals in a P lab, something as simple as switching on a light could be enough to ignite the volatile vapours into a fireball.
Even if a house was no longer being used as a P lab, he said, the chemical residue could be dangerous and prolonged exposure could lead to cancer and other health problems.
Mr Sabin said the training had been a success.
Northland housing manager Lisa McKerrow has been through the programme and has just had a team of staff take it.
She said it was "very comprehensive" and great from a health and safety perspective. It was good for identifying hazards and gave staff the tools needed to keep themselves safe.
From March 2004 to June 2008, 24 Housing NZ properties were tested and found to have methamphetamine contamination.
Last April, a Napier drug ring was made to pay more than $180,000 in damages after the state house they were cooking P in was so badly contaminated that it had to be demolished.
This has set a precedent whereby Housing New Zealand can bill anyone associated with running a P lab in a state home for property damages.
"Housing New Zealand will not tolerate unlawful activity in its homes and we will bankrupt those parties if it is in the taxpayers' interest," a spokesman for the company said.
The average cost to test and clean a house is about $4500.
THIS WEEK
Monday: Addiction treatment.
Tuesday: Prison v rehab.
Wednesday: At the border.
Today: How to spot a P lab.
Tomorrow: Organised crime.
Saturday: Experts' views.
