22 February 2006

More needed to combat P use - Greens

New Zealand is losing the fight against the devastating effects of the drug P on families and communities, Green MPs Sue Kedgley and Metiria Turei say.

The MPs are hoping to be among those welcoming an anti-P march due at Parliament tomorrow.

"P is a terrible drug with dreadful social consequences, as our Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said in Parliament two years ago. Many families have been destroyed by parents or teenagers who have become addicted," Green Party Alcohol and Drugs Spokesperson Metiria Turei says.

In 2004, after the Green Party lobbied for action on P, the Government agreed to more funding for community education and extra customs powers to tackle the bulk import of P ingredients ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.

"Clearly, as we felt at the time, more was needed. March organisers are now calling for drug education in schools - something we have been advocating for years," Mrs Turei says.

Says Ms Kedgley: "We strongly support the marchers' calls for a dedicated anonymous call centre plus more treatment programmes and places in rehabilitation centres. I am deeply concerned that drug treatment facilities are in no way keeping up with the problems caused by dangerous drugs such as P."

"We are happy to welcome this march to Parliament to highlight these issues," Ms Kedgley says.

ENDS

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