Through Local Community Initiatives
Background
Stellar Trust’s recent research demonstrated a high current level of public concern about the P problem in New Zealand, with 88% regarding the issue as very serious and 86% saying that not enough is currently being done to combat the drug.
While many of the 1000 respondents in the research sample advocated harsher penalties for usage and supply, there was also a consensus around the efficacy of local community initiatives with 65% agreeing that such initiatives were either effective or very effective.
Over the past year the Stellar Trust has undertaken wide ranging research into community responses to drug problems both here and overseas.
Since the beginning of 2010, we have been developing and implementing a model for “P Free” local initiatives.
Beginnings
In Hawke's Bay, the Stellar Trust part funded and helped organise a specific anti-methamphetamine concert called “Maori Motown” which took place on February 12th 2010.
Our Ambassador, Paul Holmes, spoke at the event and around 1100 people attended this drug and alcohol free event.
This was very successful and was the start of a "P Free Hawke's Bay" Committee of more than 45 people including Police, CAYAD staff, community workers, DHB representatives, CYPS, Maori representatives, faith based groupings and many others.
The event also inaugurated monthly meetings of P affected families who come together to share their experiences and stories of both hope and despair and strategies for dealing with the P problem.
In addition, Ngati Kahungungu has declared itself "P Free" and has called a Hui for the 27th October 2010 of tribal health workers to operationalise the runanga’s P free kaupapa.
A "P" Free Whakatane is now also underway. Click here to read more.
P Free Local Initiatives
The three prongs to our local P free initiatives are:
1. Public Awareness
It became obvious from interaction with a large number of former P users and addicts, that few of them, if any, knew the nature of the drug when usage began.
It is clear that, at least for some years, P was sold as a drug with no downside, and although our research shows that a majority of our sample now knows some of the deleterious effects of the drug, a minority still does not.
Even amongst the sample majority who knew that the drug was a serious threat, only 46% named its addictiveness as part of the drugs negatives in an open response question.
More seriously, and because of the still relatively new nature of the drug, few (if any) parents can recognise the symptoms of methamphetamine use amongst their offspring.
We have found a heavy demand for our Stellar Trust “Factsheets” which describe how P usage may be recognised, and more than a hundred of these sheets were picked up from one community centre in Thames in less than a week.
Our research (to see supporting research click here) shows that 19% of respondents in the 18 to 29 year old age cohort have been offered methamphetamine.
It further shows that 17% of Maori (of any age) have been offered P and in the same group, 28% have seen P used.
These statistics, probably for the first time, start to reveal something of the scale of the trade, with attempts made to draw nearly one in five young people into methamphetamine use.
One answer to this is to encourage those who are offered the drug to call the Police, and for this purpose we propose to publicise the anonymous toll free call number “Crimestoppers”.
Evidence from the United Kingdom points to this as a highly effective method of disrupting the trade, and even the widely publicised threat of such an outcome is likely to make the drug vendors think twice.
In one instance something like a dozen calls pointed to a single “pusher” in a small English town, and the Police action that followed the call almost certainly pre-empted a potentially serious local drug problem.
3. Help
We have met a large number of former P users over the time of the existence of the Stellar Trust and even some current users.
Almost all had difficulty finding help at the time they decided that their usage/addiction must stop.
This phenomenon is confirmed by the latest Massey University/SHORE research report which shows that more than half of the one hundred plus “regular methamphetamine users” in the sample had sought help in the year before the survey, but half of that group were unable to find help for their addiction.
This will obviously partly reflect the mental state of the users, but we believe that there is real value in clearly and publicly signposting what help is available.
For this purpose we will be promoting the Drug and Alcohol Helpline and the website “MethHelp” as a first port of call, but also publicising local help facilities from DHBs, counsellors, mentors and rehabilitation agencies.
We also have a “Help” page on our website which in due course will detail all of these avenues and more.