CONTROL OF DRUGS ‘Efforts Hindered By Staff Shortage’

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31904, 4 February 1969, Page 1

CONTROL OF DRUGS ‘Efforts Hindered By Staff Shortage’

(New Zealand Press Association) HAMILTON, February 3. The Health Department did not have sufficient staff to enforce adequate control over drugs, let alone encourage public education on drugs, the department’s public health pharmacist for the Hamilton, Gisborne and Rotorua health districts (Mr B. R. Haycock) said today.

Allied agencies in the Police and Customs Departments had been given additional staff to cope with the increasing problem of drug abuse, Mr Haycock sqid.

But until more pharmacists were employed to assist in the matter, the department could not provide the intermediate assistance it should provide in fighting drug abuse.

Mr Haycock, who has spent several months investigating the drug problem in his area, said that although there was no known problem outside New Zealand’s main centres at present, it was obvious from the tremendous growth in the number of drug offences in the last year that drug abuse could soon become a matter of concern in places such as Hamilton. Pharmacy burglaries in his area in the last year had shown that hard narcotics

were not the only problem, because many other drugs of dependency had been stolen.

It was known that some types of abuse, involving drugs of dependency such as tranquillisers and barbiturates, did exist in the area, but no action could be taken because there were insufficient departmental officers for policing work, Mr Haycock said.

In the last few months, he had received numerous inquiries from local organis .- tions and individuals for guidance and information on the problem. But at present his “hands were tied” over publicity campaigns because the Health Department was waiting for a policy to be formulated from the recommendations of the Board of Health committee of inquiry into drug dependency.

Mr Haycock said he was further handicapped by a lack of staff.

He advocated greater coordination between his department and the Police and Customs Department sections working on drugs. “But this depends on additional staff,” he said. “And more realistic salaries would need to be offered to attract qualified staff.”

The public had an important role to play in the fight against drug abuse, Mr Haycock said.

He said he endorsed the comments made by the Minister of Police (Mr Allen) last week, that everybody in the community should be alert to the drug problem. Mr Allen said the public could play a big part in keeping drugs off the illicit market by giving the police early information about sources of supply and the traffickers concerned.