Hāpai te Hauora general manager Janell Dymus-Kurei is concerned about the rising number of synthetic drug deaths, given more than half of synthetic users are Māori
This morning Health Minister Dr David Clark and Police Minister Stuart Nash announced a range of measures to tackle the synthetics crisis which has seen appalling harm across our communities, with a particularly serious impact on Māori.
Today Hāpai Te Hauora supported the launch of a petition urging the Prime Minister to double the investment for drug-related treatment and harm reduction initiatives in Budget 2019. This would see $150 million extra allocated for the under-resourced drug harm reduction sector.
Risk of death from synthetic drug use can be significantly reduced if the system gets it right, the head of a Maori public health provider says.
As of August 1 this year, 10 people are believed to have died as a result of using illegal synthetic drugs within the space of one month.
And without a law reform these "tragic" numbers may become worse, Hapai Te Hauora Tapui chief executive Lance Norman said.