Police have pulled the plug on research into methamphetamine, despite a 10-year Massey University study uncovering an alarming rise in the Class A drug's prominence throughout New Zealand.
Dr Chris Wilkins, head researcher of the Illicit Drug Monitoring System, told The AM Show on Wednesday morning while police are no longer interested in his study, he won't be out of a job.
"The police have been very clear that this has nothing to do with the quality of the research, but they're just interested in trying new approaches - and we're at the forefront of those approaches," he said.
"We are [also] exploring other Government agencies that might be interested in supporting this - we still think this is worth supporting and continuing."
Dr Wilkins said his team's research has given police "a really good head's up" of where the drug market is heading, and a comprehensive understanding of how the industry operates and how best to tackle the problems it poses.
He says his research team picked up the rise in availability of the narcotic back in 2014 - an observation that was met with plenty of scepticism when it first came out.
But it's now widely recognised that meth can be bought more easily and cheaply than cannabis in some regions of New Zealand, brought on by a huge increase in international supply of the drug.
"There are local drug markets so it depends where you are, [but] in the smaller towns in New Zealand … you can get methamphetamine cheaper and it's more available than cannabis," Dr Wilkins said.
He says while the police are doing a good job of picking up people supplying and taking meth, a quadrupling of the drug around the world means their task is harder than ever.
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Dr Wilkins went on to say that while the war on meth isn't being lost, the progress they're making has slowed amid increased challenges like drug treatment and the lack of information on small towns.
He said while they went some way to nailing down the problem just a handful of years ago, the illegal drug industry is "incredibly adaptive" - meaning they don't know if supply is domestic or international.
And there is also the challenge posed by demand - and Dr Wilkins says the way of tackling that is by offering alternatives to young people early in their lives so they don't feel the need to try it.
"[We need] really good drug prevention, so getting into the community, talking about alcohol and tobacco - and drugs, a little bit," he said.
"But also providing really good community drug prevention which means providing sport, providing cultural activities and providing young people with something to do and get involved with.
Newshub.
