Pubdate: Mon, 08 Feb 2016
Source: Marlborough Express (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2016 Independent Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.marlboroughexpress.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1139
Author: Jennifer Eder
Page: 5

ARRESTS FOR DRUG USE SLIGHTLY UP IN DECEMBER

Marlborough police are finding more drug users and less drug dealers,
according to new police data.

Police statistical indicators for December showed Marlborough police
caught more than twice as many people using illicit drugs in December
last year, compared to the previous year.

Nineteen people in Marlborough were caught using drugs in December
last year, compared with nine in December 2014.

However, the number of people caught selling illegal drugs decreased
by more than half, from 14 in December 2014 to five in the same month
last year.

The decrease in the supply of drugs in Marlborough was contrary to the
national trend, which showed a slight increase in people caught both
supplying and using drugs.

In the past two years, a tactical crime unit carried out operations in
Marlborough targeting large-scale drug-dealers. Operation Queen caught
ten people in a drug-dealing ring in Blenheim in 2014. Six of them
were sentenced last year to serve prison sentences, ranging from
two-and-a-half years to four-and-a-half-years.

Another investigation dubbed Operation A, which ended in April 2015,
saw police seize 25 kilograms of cannabis from a yacht in the
Marlborough Sounds.

Police found several fields of cannabis plants on remote islands in
the Sounds during the operation.

A man was arrested in July 2015 when police found $20,000 worth of
methamphetamine,cannabis and ecstasy in his car, along with cash and a
firearm.

St Marks manager Lois Millar said the rehabilitation centre at
Blenheim was always full, so it was difficult to say whether more
people were seeking residential treatment for drug addiction. ''Demand
is always high. We don't have enough facilities for residential
treatment in the South Island.''

There was a three-month waiting list for St Marks which was not
unusual, she said.

''We've certainly had quite a few local referrals in the past, and
there are some on the waiting list at the moment.''

Nelson Marlborough District Hospital addiction medicine specialist Dr
Michael Haskew said there was no waiting list for addiction treatment
at Wairau Hospital. ''The DHB has not seen a corresponding increase in
the number of people seeking treatment or rehabilitation for drug
addiction between December 2014 and December 2015.''

Police would not comment on the data.
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