11. Drugs Illegal—Methamphetamine Use and Government Measures to AddressRON MARK (Deputy Leader—NZ First) to the Prime MinisterDrugs Illegal—Methamphetamine Use and Government Measures to Address11. RON MARK (Deputy Leader—NZ First) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements; if so how?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): Yes; and as Prime Minister.Ron Mark: How can he say that his Government is not losing the war on P" when after 8 years of his leadership there is now so much of it available on the street that the price has plummeted to half of what it was when he came to office?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: First I am not sure that that is actually the statement that I made but second I think it is worth reflecting on what is happening. That is that the Government has had a fairly comprehensive plan that has seen actually significantly more resources for both Police and Customs and more money put into rehabilitation beds. That has seen—on the estimates of the most significant survey in this area actually—the usage of P reduced by about half. What is true though is the enormous price differential between what the product actually sells for in New Zealand and what you can buy it for in markets like Mexico or China meaning there is a huge incentive for people to bring it into New Zealand.Ron Mark: Does he agree with the current president of the Police Association who said in reference to the P problem that "we took our foot off the throat" and the outgoing president who said "funding to police organised crime units [has] been reduced making it more difficult to fight the p problem." and is it not he and his Cabinet who are ultimately responsible for that?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No I do not agree at all and the facts do not back that up.Ron Mark: How pathetic is it that your Government on one day announces that it is going to spend $28 million exterminating possums and rats and then on another day announces that it is going to spend a piffling $15 million to eradicate P dealers?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I think it would be a stretch of the legislation to use the proceeds of crime to exterminate rats and therefore we are using the legislation and the powers within the legislation to use those resources. Far from being behind the ball actually the Government has been quite forward-leaning in this area but one has to accept that around the world the use of P has actually increased for the hardened end. The overall usage rates in New Zealand have declined on the survey work.Ron Mark: Then does he stand by his and his officials' views that "the number of people using P is declining" and would he accept that one would have to be on P to believe that?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The member is entitled to hold that view if he wants to but the biggest survey in this area—which is an anonymous survey that people fill in and also takes into account the number of people who present themselves at hospitals and the like—indicates that the broader usage of P is going down. What is absolutely true I think is that the hardened end of users is going up and what has been the case is that we have become much better at identifying that now. People do test homes for instance for the use of P and the like. The reality is that New Zealand—I think actually above Australia—has one of the highest rates if not the highest rate in the OECD and that there are enormous price differentials which encourage the gangs to try to bring it into New Zealand. We need to combat that and that is what we are doing."