The socio-economic impact of amphetamine type stimulants in New Zealand: Final report

This report presents the findings of research on the socio-economic impact of Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS) in New Zealand. The work presented draws on a number of innovative research approaches and methodologies, many of which were tried for the first time in New Zealand during the project. The central aim of the research was to inform the policy response, best practice and strategic planning by New Zealand Police and other relevant government agencies with regard to the recent rise in the use and manufacture of ATS drugs. However because many agencies other than the Police deal with drug problems, the findings reported here have relevance for any organisations responding to ATS problems. Two other reports, produced around the same time as this work was being carried out, also provide information relevant to New Zealand’s response to ATS. The first was the full report of the secondary analysis of ATS drug use from the 2001 National Drug Survey (Wilkins et al. Amphetamine Type Stimulant Drug Use in New Zealand) (Wilkins et al., 2004c). This was presented to Police earlier this year as part of the ATS project. The second piece of research was the full report of the one-site pilot of the New Zealand Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring System (Wilkins et al., A Local Pilot of the New Zealand Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring System (NZ-ADAM) (Wilkins et al., 2004b).