Clutha District mayor Bryan Cadogan is about to go to war on P.

"I hope it's a war for all of us, because if we don't realise that price, that heavy price the young ones are making, the mistakes they are making, then we are doing a disservice to everyone that's involved."

Cadogan is asking for everyone in the lower South Island to wake up to the impact meth and P is having on communities.

By his side is Jamie Addison, an ex-gang member, who is used to hardened battles.

Kavinda Herath / Stuff Meth in the lower South a Island happening right under our noses. Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan says it’s time to wake up.

Addison describes his Bay of Plenty upbringing as akin to Once Were Warriors.

"What started off as guitar playing, singalong together ... that eventuated into smashing and breaking and screaming."

Two very different men, but both at the coalface of their communities, and both asking for more to be done to battle the hold gangs and the drugs have on the south.

Kavinda Herath/Stuff Clutha Southland mayor Bryan Cadogan says P is definitely taking hold in the community now.

Last year, more than 19,000 grams of meth was seized at Auckland Airport and 210,486 grams was seized at customs control areas, including ports.

Addison, a recovered meth addict, now lives in Milton and works with a variety of people and families who are trying to overcome addiction.

He believes gangs are targeting smaller rural areas because that's where the cash flow is coming easily.

Cadogan agrees.

"P [methamphetamine] has been here a long time and so has that criminal underworld with the drug, but in recent years there has been an influx ... and the P is definitely taking hold.

"It's right under your nose, and I think that's the most important message; how do we protect our children, how do we protect our loved ones, if we don't even know it is there," Cadogan said.

People are paying a heavy price, and society has to lift its game to help them, he says.

"We've just got to be doing a wee bit more, and I hope the first step is there is an awareness because the overwhelming majority of people are blissfully totally unaware that this is in their community, it's under their nose ... it's right in amongst us."

Robyn Edie 14082018. News. Robyn Edie. Southland Times/Stuff. Jamie Addison, now of Milton, speaks about the Meth problems we have in this country. Story for Saturday 18th Southland Times by Georgia Weaver.

Senior Sergeant Cynthia Fairley, of Gore, is also calling for more community awareness.

She said police were becoming concerned at the detrimental effects of meth or P, and had several examples of the "drastic outcomes" for people in rural communities.

"In the current climate it is more readily accessible than cannabis or any other substance (besides alcohol).

"It is easily transportable, easily hidden, it does not have an aroma and can be purchased in small amounts to get the hit.

"It is common for gangs to be involved in the supply and distribution of the drug. It is also common for illegal firearms to be involved.

Ministry of Justice statistics show that the number of people convicted for importing, dealing, manufacturing or possessing methamphetamine, or drug utensil offences in Southland has increased from three offenders in 2012-2013 to 29 offenders in the 2016-2017 year.

Nationally, the totals have increased from 1215 people convicted in 2012/2013 to 2199 in the 2016/2017 year.

Customs investigations manager Bruce Berry said the influx of meth into the regions was caused by the "ripple effect" resulting from a glut on the market.

"Organised crime groups are only interested in money, and the situation we're seeing is caused by two things, the ability to spread out to more markets and the greater sophistication of organised crime to establish distribution and import networks ... they are very organised, very sophisticated criminals."

Robyn Edie/Stuff Milton based Jamie Addison is a former meth addict and gang member who has put up his hand in the fight against the drug.

Customs has about 1200 staff stationed throughout the country. Invercargill has just one officer but Customs has the resources to deploy staff from elsewhere including Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown to respond to situations in the south.

Risk was everywhere, Berry said.

"Yes, there is a risk that a private yacht or craft could enter through Bluff [carrying drugs] just as there is to approach anywhere on New Zealand's coast, but we do have the national and international intelligence to know what's coming and to intercept."

Meth is being manufactured in New Zealand but it is also coming in through airports and ports, it is believed mainly from South East Asia.

Mail, freight and passengers used to be the preferred method of transporting drugs. Now it is shipping, smuggling and trafficking. Customs is intercepting some of it in joint operations with New Zealand Police and other agencies.

Addison believes meth will never be eradicated from New Zealand, and it's now time to help those who are addicted.

But getting help they need is not easy.

A big problem for families of an addict is they can't force someone to get treatment. There has to be a willingness to get better, among other things.

It's often when people are waiting to get into a rehabilitation clinic is when they are at most risk of relapsing.

Addison is hoping to open an addiction clinic in Milton, a merging point between first point of call, to referral, and ultimately, treatment.

Robyn Edie 14082018. News. Robyn Edie. Southland Times/Stuff. Jamie Addison, now of Milton, speaks about the Meth problems we have in this country. Story for Saturday 18th Southland Times by Georgia Weaver.

He is working with a variety of families who have been turned away, or put on a wait list.

"The existing services that are providing treatment are great and they need to be supported more."

Relapse comes around so easily, so Addison is putting his hand up to help.

"People who want help get help, sometimes they need a point in the right direction."

And that's what he is trying to do for an Invercargill mother who says there are flaws in the drug and alcohol help system and she is finding it difficult to get the help her daughter needs.

She has spent the past three years trying to get help for her 23-year-old daughter who is addicted to meth.

"There are some amazing facilities out there, they are just hard to get into," the mother said.

Coming back to Invercargill is not an option for her daughter and home detox will not work because there has to be a support person there at all times, the mother said.

Kavinda Herath/Stuff Clutha Southland mayor Bryan Cadogan says the community needs to come together to fight meth.

"We are at crisis point. The system needs to change.

"But no-one talks about [meth]. It is so accessible and so rampant in Otago and Southland, something needs to be done.

"[Addiction] doesn't ... discriminate. There is no specific socio-economic group it effects."

Southern District Health Board community alcohol and drug service consultant psychiatrist Dr Benjamin Lewis said watching a loved one struggle with substance use disorders could be enormously difficult.

The treatment can inflict a huge cost on individuals and communities.

While addiction medicine has come a long way in the past 10 years, in terms of evidence-based treatments, the science was still in its infancy and there is much good work yet to be done, he said.

There is always more to be done to help those with meth addictions and they are aware it is often a chronic and relapsing disorder.

Robyn Edie/Stuff Jamie Addison is hoping to start a clinic in Milton to help those addicted to meth.

Signs of meth use:

- Scratching and picking

- Elevation

- Pupil dilation

- Erratic behaviour

- Rapid weight loss

- Looking gaunt

- Not eating

- Depression

- Drug psychosis

Where to get help:

Meth-help 0800 6384 4357

Drug and Alcohol help line: 0800 787 797

Need to talk: txt or call 1737

SDHB Mental Health and Addiction services: 0800 46 78 46