COMMUNITY 'is' THE SOLUTION

So last time we talked about Meth abuse of children. We talked about how the users of meth and the p cooks “know” what they are doing to those around them. They “know” that it is bad for them and those they surround, but the “high” they get from the use drives them to simply “forget” everything else.
 
Now let’s talk about a practical approach to combat this abuse.
 
Some background:
 
Police stats show a decline in apprehensions of methamphetamine. (Source)
 
Youth Drug Services clinics show a decline in referrals. (Source)
 
For the police stats, (possession of methamphetamine) you’ve got to catch someone (have it on their person or property) with the drug to apprehended them. The fact is that the meth gets used within a short space of time when the user obtains it. It gets smoked very quickly.
 
The user is so addicted that once they have the drug in their possession, the desire, the reward of getting high, drives them to use quickly. You cannot “catch” someone for possession if they do not have the drug on them. Instead, it’s been used and is “in” them. Whilst there is also a charge for “use” it is infrequently applied as the expense of proving the “use” is difficult involving costly blood tests and scientific analysis.
 
And the Youth Drug Services are seeing a downturn, or less attendance, at their clinics because the meth users don’t want to get clean. It oftentimes takes an extreme event in their life to override the massive desire for the dopamine hit that using meth gives them.  Simply put, the reward outweighs the desire to get clean.

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They initially see no wrong in meth use. The use of it makes them stronger, faster, think clearer and makes them happier. So why not use it? The desire to use is stronger than the desire to not use. That is what their brain tells them. 
 
We are not seeing them “check in” to rehab clinics because there is no desire to change, in the stages earlier and often later use.
 
And we are being told by “those in the know” that it is now easier to get meth than it is to get weed.
 
In an article on May 3rd 2017, Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox said she “…has seen her own family members go to "tinny houses" to try and buy weed and be offered only P.”

Meth is more addictive than weed. Colloquially, weed is not addictive. That is, you can use it once or many times over and not crave or “require” another “hit.”

Whereas, P is highly addictive. “They” tell us that it only takes one hit for men and two hits for women and they are addicted.

How do you fight a pervasive drug that drives addiction mentally, psychologically as well as physiologically? 

In order to tackle the “meth abuse” that is occurring within our communities, families and homes, we need to address the results, the affects and the outcomes, so to speak, of the use of methamphetamine.

Those meth users don’t want to stop.

This becomes the key issue for dealing with the p problem.  How do you get users off something that they do not want to stop?

So, how do you stop P cooks from manufacturing when demand is so high?

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Well, in times gone by, and even in tribal communities today, when an individual within a community developed a problem or had an issue that affected those around them and the society that they existed in, it was identified by those around them (usually the individuals that knew them well) and then dealt with by the community. Strength in numbers as it were.

Obviously, some ancient traditions of stoning (no cannabis pun intended) beheading, hanging or burning at the stake (Salam’s Witch Trials late 1600’s) are thankfully outlawed, but our sense of community, the thing that brought everyone together to solve a problem, no longer exists as strongly as it once did.

We are all taught that drugs are bad, that dangerous driving is bad, that stealing is bad. But how often do we see these things and do little or nothing about it?  The Police ad campaign of “What would you do?” says it all. Through a series of situations depicting crime occurring nearby, the ad campaign asks if you, an ordinary citizen, would do something to stop or prevent it? 

In reality its asking for people to join the police, but actually its more of a commentary on social conscience. Only a few really would act, many of us would, and often do “turn a blind eye” to that behaviour.
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We see the enforcement of laws and anti-social behaviour as a “problem for the police” when it actually “is” our problem.

COP is an acronym for “Citizen on Patrol.” They are ordinary citizens, just like you and I, but they have taken an oath to uphold the laws and enforce them.

Have we not taken the same oath? By choosing to live in this society and contribute to this society have we not essentially taken the same oath? Although unspoken, we have.

Our choice to live peacefully, with a right to a quiet life and environment. To be free from abuse, both mental and physical, to be free from harassment is inherent, but only if everyone complies with the laws we have established.

And it is everyone’s responsibility to enforce those laws, not just the police, not just customs, not the government, but ours, you me, them, everybody.

Back in the day, when we had a village, if someone was “up to no good” everyone knew.

Back in the day, we all talked to one another. We all communicated about our problems and came together to fix them.

But back in the day, we didn’t have four and a half million people living in New Zealand.

And back in the day, we didn’t have the disconnect that we have with our neighbours, our communities or even our close friends.

The internet, ironically the device that I am using to deliver this message, is somewhat to blame for this lack of connection within our communities.

That is, our social media, that we check so frequently throughout the day, allows us to “stay connected” with others without having to actually establish a connection.

The internet, ironically the device that I am using to deliver this message, is somewhat to blame for this lack of connection within our communities.

That is, our social media, that we check so frequently throughout the day, allows us to “stay connected” with others without having to actually establish a connection.

We use it to “stay connected” and feel a sense of belonging, when in fact, we have little to none.

We look at news articles, we read blogs (more irony) and because it is not proxemic to us, it is not near to us, we fail to act.

We fail to act and we say to ourselves it is someone else’s problem.

Well, it is not someone’s else’s problem, it’s your problem.

Right now, there is a child inhaling meth. Either from someone smoking it, or someone cooking it.

Right now there is a child crawling on a floor that is covered in meth and chemical residue.

Right now a child is asleep in their cot breathing in meth contaminated air.

But what are we, as a community, doing about it?

Very little as turns out.

Our disconnect from our communities is such that, we read all about one person’s charge against meth in Tauranga as they lead a group of like-minded individuals, yet we failed to act in our area.

We read about a gang member who is so fed up with P affecting those around him that he has taken a stand with others in his community to do something about it, yet we failed to try do the same in other communities around the country.

We read all about the cost to landlords and the millions of dollars that meth manufacture costs us as a country each year, but we have done nothing together about it.

And we have read about children being removed from their meth user parents, blatant meth abuse of our kids, but this problem still persists in our communities.

And why? Because it’s someone else’s problem.

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​The next email or app, or game, or movie or news story simply came along and removed the problem from your mind.

The next car crash or restaurant that opened or gold medal at the games made it to front page news and the real problems affecting society, the dangers, fell off the front page.

If it’s no longer at the forefront of your mind you won’t do anything about it, either as an individual or as a community.

Meth is not going away people.

It’s not.

We have to do something about it, and not in fits and starts with a community meeting here or there. It starts with education.

We have to educate and inform our children to make good choices.
We have to develop their sense of social conscious, but where is that in our education system?

Where is the schoolroom class on law? And I don’t mean law school, I mean, here’s what you can and can’t do.

That is: “Don’t speed” says the teacher.  Here’s why; you may crash and injure someone, or injure yourself and you and/or they then become a burden on society due to their inability to function and we, as a society, have to pay for their rehabilitation, if that works, etc. or, worse still, killing someone with your vehicle and the social impact on the family and those around them. The impact on you mentally and the societal expense of that.

“So,” says the teacher “these are just some of the consequences. So will anyone speed now?” “No!” comes the resounding response from the class of kids present.

Well, maybe that’s a bit hopeful and fictitious of me, maybe.

How about assault? After the teacher explains the chance of killing someone when you kick them in the head when they are lying down on the ground after being punched, and that they don’t “wake up” like they do in the movies. The teacher asked “Will anyone assault anyone else now?”  “No!” comes the resounding response from the class of kids.

How about drug use? How about education into the health effects, the meth abuse of our children.

“Don’t use illegal drugs.” says the teacher. And here’s why; the use of illegal drugs drives the manufacture of illegal drugs, that is the law of supply and demand. They, the drug cooks, only make it, because they can sell it and profit from it. That manufacture often comes with massive social costs. That is chemical contamination or properties, the resulting healthcare issues of victims of “third hand” use. That is the victim of violence from the drug user, or the victim of a car crash from a drug user driving under the influence. The children having to live in meth contaminated homes.

There is more of course. The cost of rehabilitation of the drug user. The fact that those users may lose their job as a result of the drug use and go onto require supported living “the dole.”  The user may develop health issues and require financial “medical assistance” and so on.

According to this report, the cost of illegal drugs within New Zealand is 1.8B annually, with dependant drug users accounting for a whopping $33,800 each.  The “casual” drug user is estimated to have a social cost of around $2300 per person per annum.

The June 2016 quarter report from Statistics New Zealand tells us that the median weekly earnings were $934. That means the average kiwi needs to work nearly two and a half weeks out of a year to pay for the social cost of an illegal drug user.

So is the answer better education?

Sure it is.” Of course it is!” comes the cry from the masses.

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Everyone can see the benefits of better education into poor choices of illicit actions that lead to economic consequences on our society. And yet whilst we can see that, whilst we inherently know this, we do very little about preventing it either individually or as a community.

The people mentioned earlier are doing something about it. But why are they not front page news everyday?

The police know that meth abuse of our children, Meth use, meth manufacture and meth contamination is a problem, but why is it not front page news everyday?

Our government know that these illegal activities cost us, the taxpayer and the contributors to our society, everyday. But why is this not front page news everyday?

Why are there not daily articles of the effects of drug use on our society, on the meth abuse of our children?

Well, it’s not the only problem. Housing, infrastructure, schooling, natural disasters, all of which contribute to detract from the drug problem.

I’m not saying that they are any less important, those poor folk whose homes and community have been devastated by natural disasters deserve our help. We should expect no less, and in times of crisis we do band together as a society to help those in need.

But, yes there is a but. Why is it that it takes a disaster for us to band together?

Births, deaths and Weddings are often the only time a family get together as the saying goes.
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Why should it be a crisis that brings a community together?

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What will it take to recognise that drug use is a crisis already? A daily crisis.

It is a “hidden” cost to our community, but it should remain hidden no more.

We should ALL be aware or made aware of, not only the cost to ourselves, but the burden and the cost that we create on our society, on our community when we “accept” drug use as the “norm” with our country.

The “stats” tell us that use sits at 1.1% or around 50,000 people in New Zealand. That’s “reported” use, so apprehensions, those “checked in” to rehabilitation centres, etc. It is not the hidden number.  

Colloquially, we often hear from our clients that “Everyone” is on it.

We hear from nurses and doctors that it is being used to cope with the long and demanding shifts. We hear that truck drivers are using it to “stay awake.” We hear that whilst “P” is considered a “dirty” street drug, it is being used by many industry and big business professionals. And here’s the scary part… you wouldn’t know.

Yes, despite popular movie myths that portray users as wide eyed and bushy tailed with twitches and skin lesions, not all of them have that. Some long term and heavy meth users do, but not all, and certainly not those who have just started using.

So how do we detect this in our friends and family? How do we “band together as a community to rid ourselves of this scourge. To reduce the incidents and effects of drug use in our community (to quote the Police).

It comes back to awareness. It comes back to education. It comes back to us all helping each other.

This is something that we cannot do from behind a keyboard (yes, I again, appreciate the irony of that statement whilst typing this blog).
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A community is defined as many things, but the definition we apply for this story is that of “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.”

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We are all in “the same place.” New Zealand it not that big to say that we are removed from what happens in other parts of the country. For instance, the Christchurch and Kaikoura quakes affected the whole country economically, as well as drastically affecting those directly involved.
 
And we all certainly have a “particular characteristic in common” that off New Zealand being “Gods own” country. “The Land of the Long White Cloud” is something we all know and love about our home. We know that we are one of the best places to live in the world. We know that we are on the “must see” list of travel destinations for tourists. We all know that our “home” is beautiful and should remain that way.
 
What New Zealand is not, is “The Land of the Long White Methamphetamine Cloud.” Yet with our lack of community mindedness and lack of education about drugs, we can only head this way as the slow decline of or society continues.
 
At present our schools have the Life Education Trust and other drug education services to education, but they often deliver a message to children at an age too young for radical comprehension of the societal issues they will face.
 
Perhaps the education needs to be continuous throughout their schooling years and not a “one off.” And rather than the school or a trust having to “teach” our children, why not arm the parents with the necessary skills to do so themselves.
 
“It takes a village” as the saying goes, meaning to raise a child, but the other saying is that every village has one, the village idiot. 
 
With the decline of social and physical interaction through anything but social media we can only eventually see the decline of “a village raising a child” and see an increase in “village idiots.”
 
As the saying goes: “All that is required for evil to triumph, is for good people to do nothing.”
 
To paraphrase; if we do nothing to prevent this continual decline, if we do not act together, as a community, evil (read: illegal drugs) will triumph.

I’ve said it in previous blogs and I will say it again: This is not just the Police’s job, this is everyone’s responsibility. This is our communities responsibility.  In crimes case, Prevention is better than Apprehension, and in a drug users (or cooks) case, Prevention is better than Rehabilitation.

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Perhaps it starts with YOU, yes, just YOU, just one in the crowd telling your friends and family. Perhaps it starts by opening a dialogue with your local school. Perhaps it starts with you talking to other groups about this. Groups of like-minded individuals, support groups and the like. Perhaps it starts with just one person deciding to make a difference and keeping this massive issue in the public eye, but to do this, it has to start.
 
So start. Do something to make a difference in your community. The community is the solution and together you are the community.  Do something to stop the meth abuse of our children.

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