Recent changes in the methamphetamine scene in New Zealand: Preliminary findings from key informant surveys of drug enforcement officers and drug treatment workers - New Zealand Police

Recent changes in the methamphetamine scene in New Zealand:
Preliminary findings from key informant surveys of drug enforcement officers and drug treatment workers

January 2004

C. Wilkins¹, E. Rose¹, D.Trappitt², D. Sellman³, S. Adamson³ and K. DeZwart³

¹ Centre for Social and Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation (SHORE), Massey University, Auckland. www.shore.ac.nz ² Police National Headquarters, New Zealand Police. www.police.govt.nz ³ National Addiction Centre, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago. www.chmeds.ac.nz

Introduction - This document presents preliminary findings from key informant surveys of drug enforcement and drug treatment workers about how the methamphetamine scene in New Zealand has changed in the last six months. It is the first component of a larger study of the socio-economic impact of Amphetamine type Stimulants (ATS) commissioned by the New Zealand Police. The ATS project is funded by the New Zealand Police from money received from the Cross Departmental Research Funding Pool administered by the Ministry of Research Science and Technology (MoRST).

Acknowledgements - We would like to thank all the respondents to the key informant surveys without whom this research could not have taken place. The SHORE project team was led by Dr Chris Wilkins. Emily Rose assisted in the analysis of the findings and preparation of the presentation. Superintendent Dave Trappitt is the National Manager Planning, Policy and Evaluation at the Police National Headquarters, New Zealand Police, Wellington. Associate Professor Doug Sellman is the Director of the National Addiction Centre. Simon Adamson and Karen DeZwart worked on the National Addiction Centre Rolling Telephone Survey of drug treatment workers.

Component Aim: To provide a rapid assessment of how the methamphetamine situation in New Zealand has changed over the last six months.

Method: Drawing on the Rapid Assessment and Response (RAR) methodology key informant surveys were conducted nationwide with drug treatment workers and drug enforcement officers from Police and Customs in November and December of 2003. Drug enforcement key informants were selected by the National Drug Intelligence Bureau (NDIB) from officers with good knowledge of drug offending from all areas of the country. These included officers in drug squads, Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), National Drug Intelligence Bureau (NDIB), Customs, National Bureau Criminal Intelligence (NBCI), Organised Crime Units (OCU), clandestine laboratory teams, and officers in the undercover programme. Those selected were sent a questionnaire by post through the Evaluation Unit of the Commissioners Office with an attached letter of support from the Commissioner or Head of Customs as appropriate. Drug treatment worker key informants were respondents to the National Addiction Centres (NAC) national survey of drug treatment workers. In this survey, treatment workers are randomly selected from an up-dated list of all drug treatment workers in New Zealand. The methamphetamine key informant questions were included in the regular NAC interview. Drug treatment respondents were initially administered a telephone interview and then faxed additional questions for completion and return by fax. The key informant questionnaire was a mix of structured quantitative questions and open qualitative questions about changes in the use and sale of methamphetamine in the last six months. The response rate of the drug enforcement key informants was 74% (n=74). The response rate of the drug treatment key informants was 71% (n=48/37). This seminar presents some of the central findings of the key informant surveying. More detailed findings from this component will be presented in a written report to New Zealand Police when data collection and analysis from other components of the research project are complete.

Description	%
Clear/white crystals [70-85% pure]	73
Methamphetamine powder [5-17% pure]	37
Pure methamphetamine [50-85% pure]	24
Methamphetamine liquid/oil [2-5% pure] [60% pure]	6
Total	140

Change	%
More smoking	45
More intravenous use	33
Smoking most common	33
Less snorting	5
Talk of intravenous use	3
Small number of injectors	3
Less injecting	3
Total	125

Change	%
More younger people/students/teenagers	33
More of cross section of society	24
More business people	9
More young females	9
More Maori	9
More middle class	9
More 'boy racers'	9
More users in general	7
More lower socio-economic	7
More traditional cannabis users	7
More last teens early 30s	4
More active criminals	4
Other	12
Total	143

Change	%
More younger	46
More higher socio-economic/white collar/well educated	31
More of all types	15
More females	15
More cannabis users	8
More with poor injecting habits	8
Total	108

Change	%
Gangs have a wide influence	32
Tinny houses switching to selling methamphetamine	29
Heavy methamphetamine users dealing to sustain habit	19
More young people/students selling	16
More young females selling	13
More ordinary people selling	13
Previous cannabis dealers now selling methamphetamine	10
Criminals selling	6
Solo Mums	3
Prostitutes	3
Middle management	3
Males last 20s/early 30s	3
Middle class users	3
Manufacturers	3
Total	156

Change	%
More gangs	30
More tinny house sales	30
Cross section of society selling	20
Younger addicts	20
Less people dealing as many burnt out users	10
Total	110

Change	%
Tinny houses selling methamphetamine	32
Sold in smaller weights than point called 'clicks' (0.07 gram)	24
Dealers giving free taste to new users	8
Dealers more careful who sell to now it is Class A	8
Cannabis laced with methamphetamine	8
Sold from meth houses	8
Party packs (e.g. meth/ecstasy/LSD, meth/LSD/ecstasy/cannabis)	8
Cannabis dealers witching to methamphetamine	4
Methamphetamine sold with syringes	4
More non-gang sellers	4
Methamphetamine available from more places (e.g. bars/restaurants)	4
Total	112

Change	%
More serious violence	73
More theft/property crime	29
More burglarly	24
More domestic violence	14
More theft of identity cards/fraud	12
More use of weapons/firearms	10
More car crime	10
More aggravated robbery	8
More chemist break ins	6
More home invasion	4
More kidnapping	4
More solicitors stating clients using methamphetamine	2
More rapes	2
More disorderly conduct	2
More road rage	2
More drug deals gone wrong	2
More shop lifting	2
Total	156

Change	%
More violence	36
More burglary/property crime/theft	36
More desperation crime/anything to get money for drugs	29
More complex fraud	7
More drug dealing by users	7
More publicity of methamphetamine crime	7
More crime by women	7
More crime in general	7
Total	110

Home

Recent changes in the methamphetamine scene in New Zealand: Preliminary findings from key informant surveys of drug enforcement officers and drug treatment workers - New Zealand Police

Recent changes in the methamphetamine scene in New Zealand: Preliminary findings from key informant surveys of drug enforcement officers and drug treatment workers

Q.3 How do the methamphetamine users mostly take methamphetamine?

Q.4 Would the methamphetamine users you know of typically use Pure or ordinary methamphetamine powder?

Q.5 Can you briefly describe the types of methamphetamine you have seized in the last six months and estimate their purity?

Q.6a Have you noticed any change in the number of people using methamphetamine in the last six months?

Q.6b Have you noticed any change in the number of people presenting for methamphetamine problems in the last six months?

Q.7 Have you noticed any change in the way users take methamphetamine in the last six months?

Q.8 How easy is it to get methamphetamine at the moment?

Q.9 Is getting methamphetamine easier, harder or about the same compared to six months ago?

Q.14 Have you noticed any new groups using methamphetamine?

Q.15 Have you noticed any changes in the type of people selling methamphetamine in the last six months?

Q.16 Have you noticed any changes in the way methamphetamine is being sold in the last six months?

Q.22 In the last six months, have you noticed any changes in the type of crime, if any, being committed by methamphetamine users?

Q.23 In the last six months, have you noticed any changes in the level of drug dealing, if any, being committed by methamphetamine users?

Q.24 In the last six months, have you noticed any changes in the level of violence, if any, being committed by methamphetamine users?

Recent changes in the methamphetamine scene in New Zealand:
Preliminary findings from key informant surveys of drug enforcement officers and drug treatment workers