Kaipo said the harm from meth addiction had a ripple effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re sacrificing family, and you don\u2019t even know that you\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaipo believed family could be the answer. He said he had seen \u201ctremendous results\u201d from wh\u0101nau who took a no-frills approach to helping loved ones through addiction at home.<\/p>\n
\u014ctangarei Trust chief executive Martin Kaipo. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the war on drugs is not necessarily the war we should be fighting. We should be dealing with the addiction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to look at the family, where the strengths are within the families, where the leadership is. And it really takes community to fight that war.\u201d <\/p>\n
The recruitment of vulnerable people into dealing was something Kaikohe\u2019s Whakaoranga W<\/a>h<\/a>\u0101nau Recovery Hub<\/a> (WOW Hub) chief executive Rhonda Zielinski said she saw reflected in her work.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, it\u2019s no different from the people in the supermarkets that give out free chocolates or taste this, taste that. It\u2019s a marketing strategy.\u201d <\/p>\n Zielinski believed Northland was a hotspot for meth use <\/a>because vulnerable communities were an easy target.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we didn\u2019t have people who were poor and traumatised and didn\u2019t have all that stuff to deal with, then maybe the demand for drugs would decrease.\u201d <\/p>\n Her concerns were reflected in wastewater testing from the first quarter, which showed Northland continued to have the highest per-capita daily methamphetamine consumption in the country and remained above its previous four-quarter average.<\/p>\n Zielinski described her work as being \u201cin the trenches\u201d with those battling addiction.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be there because when we change one adult, we change a whole family, and that changes a whole bloodline.\u201d<\/p>\n Zielinski said methamphetamine affected people\u2019s wairua. <\/p>\n \u201cOnce you start taking meth, it actually robs your soul.\u201d<\/p>\n However, she urged people not to judge those struggling with addiction as they were often using drugs to cope with trauma. <\/p>\n Zielinski said recovery was possible and could have a generational impact. <\/p>\n She felt the Government was so busy \u201cwhipping from the top\u201d that it risked overlooking people who needed support to overcome addiction. <\/p>\n Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith disagreed.<\/p>\n He pointed to the meth action plan announced last November, which included $30 million over four years to increase services available to communities hardest hit. <\/p>\n Maritime operations to disrupt organised crime<\/a> networks in the Pacific, increasing police enforcement, and strengthening border security<\/a> were also announced.<\/p>\n Goldsmith said drug harm was an \u201cextremely difficult\u201d issue and the Government was working hard to turn it around. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re monitoring progress closely, but we know it will take time to see consistent results.\u201d<\/p>\n The scale of the problem was reflected in wastewater testing, which showed methamphetamine consumption nearly doubled in the last quarter of 2024<\/a>. High availability and lower prices had \u201calmost certainly\u201d contributed to increased demand countrywide, according to last year\u2019s Drugs in Wastewater Testing annual overview.<\/p>\n Methamphetamine use had remained at that elevated level and ticked up again this year, according to Massey University Professor Chris Wilkins, from the Shore & Wh\u0101riki Drug Research Team.<\/p>\n He said the cost of meth had fallen<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a pretty extraordinary situation where the price of meth is now … in a similar bracket, broadly speaking, to cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilkins said the methamphetamine market had changed since he began researching it more than two decades ago. Seizures that once attracted attention because they involved tens of kilograms had been eclipsed by routine interceptions of hundreds of kilograms.<\/p>\n Northland was the site of New Zealand\u2019s largest methamphetamine bust in 2016<\/a>, involving almost 500kg of meth, but that mark was overtaken by a 747kg haul in Auckland in March 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n Northland\u2019s geography made it well suited to drug smuggling, Wilkins said, with the region\u2019s 3200km coastline providing ample opportunities to bring contraband ashore. <\/p>\n Evidence suggested Mexican cartels<\/a> had established reliable supply routes, he said.<\/p>\nWhakaoranga Whanau Recovery Hub chief executive Rhonda Zielinski at its clinic in Kaikohe. Photo \/ Annaleise Shortland<\/p>\n
Massey University Professor Chris Wilkins says Wilkins said the methamphetamine market has changed since he began researching it more than two decades ago. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n