Recent media reporting has focused on the huge increase in methamphetamine use in New Zealand.
Police wastewater testing, which covers about 80 percent of the population, recorded an average of 36.6 kg of methamphetamine consumed per week in the first quarter of 2026 – 15 percent above the average of the previous four quarters. That amounts to an estimated social harm cost of $38.4 million a week, or roughly $2 billion a year. Northland, followed by Waikato, recorded the highest detected use of any police district.
This is a step change, not just noise. Consumption ran at roughly 12 to 14 kg a week in 2023, jumped sharply through 2024, and has since stabilised at the new, higher level rather than falling back. The average price of a standard dose has dropped significantly, which signals a glut in supply.
The Coromandel Peninsula sits inside the boundaries of the Waikato Police District, and our towns are over-represented among the region’s heaviest meth-using centres.
Last October, police from outside our area executed a series of search warrants in and around Whitianga. Several locals were charged with meth-dealing offences, and some were remanded in custody. As a direct result, local crime statistics dropped, and so did the number of people seeking help from our social services. Meth dealing and the criminal behaviour that goes with it have a heavy impact on the community, but too often it is the users’ own families who bear the brunt of this social plague.
Clearly, the current strategy for dealing with meth-related offending is not working. The Organised Crime arm of the New Zealand Police, together with Customs, has made some major seizures, but it is estimated that only 10 to 15 percent of meth is intercepted at or near the border.
A new and radical approach is needed, and needed now. This issue has to be addressed at both a community and a political level.
Start with sentencing. Five years ago, mid-level meth dealers were receiving four to six years’ imprisonment. Now they get home detention. With enormous profits available and an insatiable market, it is little wonder that reoffending — or offending while on bail or under supervision — is at an all-time high. The regime needs tightening, particularly around the enablers: the dodgy lawyers, the accountants and the corrupt officials, including police, who should be treated as though they were dealing meth themselves.
At the same time, treating meth use as a health issue rather than a criminal one is worth serious consideration. Provide proper social and health support for addicts, and reserve the stronger penalties for the dealers. The aim has to be both demand reduction and supply reduction. Users and addicts in prison also need access to treatment programmes that actually work.
Targeting the money is another valuable tool. In some European countries, the onus is fully on the individual to prove the source of their income and assets, and our asset seizure laws need strengthening along those lines.
Organised crime, including gangs, needs to be targeted with stronger legislation allowing simpler surveillance, search and seizure powers. The justice system carries a huge responsibility to keep our communities safe.
Lastly, the community needs to make it abundantly clear that meth use and dealing will not be tolerated here. That does not mean vigilante action, but it does mean passing intelligence straight to police or to Crimestoppers.
If we do not take this holistic approach, the situation will undoubtedly get worse, and the social and health problems we face now will become irreparable.
