8 October, 2009-10-08

For Immediate Release

Tougher Government measures aimed at squeezing the supply of methamphetamine and greater availability of preventative services and rehabilitation treatments were today welcomed by anti-P campaign group, the Stellar Trust.

Trust Chairman Alistair Burry said today’s announcement by Prime Minister John Key was a significant step in the ongoing campaign to stop the damage being caused by P throughout New Zealand society.

“We’re still going through the detail of the announcements but it’s clear the Government is making a strong commitment in several key areas to prevent the flow of this drug into our society, to help those unfortunate enough to already be caught in its grasp, and to help those working in our schools and communities to get the anti-P message through,” said Mr Burry.

“Having just worked through our own pilot programmes in schools, our organisation is particularly interested in how we can use this latest Government initiative to drive more anti-P messaging into schools, workplaces and the wider communities and prevent more damage being caused by this drug,”.

Mr Burry said the appeal of the Government’s initiative was its aim to tackle P on many fronts at the same time and bring a sense of co-ordination and accountability to preventing the widespread harm it caused.

“I understand there may be some concerns about the move to make pseudoephedrine a prescription only drug. But when you consider a third of all meth labs found by police are using locally sourced precursors and that there are alternative medicines available, the Trust feels this is a reasonable step for a comparatively small inconvenience to the public.

“It is also great to see the police and customs being given more resources, funding and powers to tackle those importing precursors and dominating the supply chain of this nasty and highly addictive drug.

“The Stellar Trusts focus is on education to prevent people in our communities from getting hooked into this drug so we are very pleased to see this area also being given greater support. Detail on this section is still a little light but the intention to give more co-ordination and resources to these efforts and instil greater accountability on the organisations and Ministries co-ordinating and delivering these services can only be a good thing.

“The many parents, family members, work mates, whanau and friends who have seen people they know and love fall victim to this drug, and who have suffered with them, will especially welcome the extra resources going into treatment and rehabilitation.”

However, Mr Burry warned that this latest sweep of Government measures could only be regarded as a significant step in tackling the damage caused by P.

“I think Mr Key and his Government are to be congratulated on acknowledging the seriousness and depth on the problem. The level of commitment to tackling the issues caused by P is a welcome change to policy. But it is a commitment that will need to be continued and all these measures will have to be continually evaluated and reassessed for their effectiveness.”

ENDS

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