Jo Raphael: We need more help to stamp out meth scourge

OPINION:

I have never touched illegal drugs.

I don't smoke, I drink alcohol barely once a week.

Sounds boring, doesn't it?

I don't think so. I once went on a hens do as a sober driver and had an absolute blast drinking water and fizzy drink.

However, my brand of fun doesn't sit with police and other data that shows the meth problem in the Bay is getting worse.

Meth is a scourge, reaching all levels of society. Photo / NZME

We report today that 1.15kg of meth is consumed in the region. That's each week.

Wastewater samples were collected from Tauranga beach, Tauranga city, Whakatāne, Rotorua, Tokoroa, Ōpōtiki, Taupō, and Kawerau. Meth was the most prevalent drug from each site.

Kawerau and Ōpōtiki were the worst in the country, with 95 per cent prevalence.

Rotorua and Tokoroa were the third-worst, with an 85 per cent positive test.

That's a heck of a lot of drugs, considering it only takes a "point" of meth or 0.1g to get high.

One point usually costs about $100 so that's more than $1 million literally going down the drain – every week.

What a waste.

And this scourge has spread through all levels of society.

The Herald reported last year that some well-off women and "housewives" have turned to P as their drug of choice.

These "ladies who lunch" are getting high on meth, when they may have once used valium or gin.

What makes people, who seemingly have their lives together, spiral to this level?

Pauline Tai, who I have a lot of admiration for, is a meth survivor and says she thinks nothing's changed, in fact, it's getting worse.

Stealing, lying, conniving and manipulating were attributes she said flourished in the depths of addiction, which she was no stranger to.

"Not even just with my family, it's with people in the community," she says.

Since getting clean, she and others began the support group STOP Mana Enhancing and Whare Rauora Healing from Meth.

More people indirectly affected by meth are reaching out for help, and the fortnightly Thursday group at Apumoana Marae is gaining popularity.

She gets daily phone calls from parents worried their child is on meth.

She knows how to spot the signs: first there's the extra energy - housework being done, even when it's spotless. Users stay up late, became agitated easily, even angry and violent when they can't get a fix.

Surely this is no way to live.

Undoubtedly there are those out there who are suffering these insidious effects and just need to know where to get help.

We are so lucky we have people like Pauline.

We just need more like her to help keep people out of this drug's clutches.