Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s asked his Justice and Police Ministers to look at what more can be done to tackle methamphetamine use in New Zealand, which has nearly doubled since 2023.

Police data shows an “unprecedented 96 percent increase in meth consumption when compared to 2023, with consumption increasing across all sites.”

The Drugs in Wastewater 2024 Annual Overview showed the minimal annual consumption jumping from 732 kilograms to 1434, identifying a social harm cost of $1.5 billion dollars last year.

Luxon said he’d seen the recent figures and was “quite concerned”.

“It’s a reason for why we’ve gone so hard on gangs and on organised crime, which is driving a lot of the drug trade.”

“But I’ve actually asked Ministers ... Goldsmith and Mitchell to say what else can we be doing.

“But it underscores exactly why we need to be tough on gangs who are actually driving a lot of that drug trade.”

But Labour leader Chris Hipkins says the Government has no real plan for tackling methamphetamine, and that seizing gang patches isn’t enough.

“Forcing gangs underground clearly hasn’t been bad for business for them,” he said.

“They’re doing a booming trade in selling meth, they’re selling more meth than ever before, and the Government doesn’t seem to have a plan for tackling that.”

Hipkins adds that just asking Goldsmith and Mitchell to look at the issue isn’t casting the net wide enough.

“He also needs to bring in health, he needs to bring in the other agencies who are dealing with the consequences of it, because that’s ultimately where some of the solutions are going to lie.”

The police report says the spike in methamphetamine use has likely resulted from an increase in both supply and demand, along with a decrease in street level pricing

It notes locations with high methamphetamine use per capita were largely regional North Island towns also experiencing high rates of socioeconomic deprivation.

Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen says more meth on the streets is making it harder for an already stretched police service, in which back office cuts has resulted in more work for frontline cops.

“They’re already stretched thin and there’s fewer police than when this Government took office. And on top of that they’ve got a doubling of methamphetamine.”

Police Minister Mark Mitchell says illicit drug supply is a global problem, and police are working hard alongside other agencies and international partners to tackle the issue.

Mitchell says the Government’s given police additional powers and resources to disrupt and police organised crime groups who peddle drugs.

“We’ve seen a number of successful drug seizure operations over the last year, including in Opotiki where there’s been a significant drop in meth use as a result.

“Last month Casey Costello appointed a Ministerial Advisory Group on transnational and serious organised crime, laser focused on disrupting illicit product and supply chains.

“There is a lot of work to do domestically and internationally to get on top of the problem, and this will continue to be a priority for this Government.”

The Drugs in Wastewater report also showed a 90 percent increase in cocaine consumption, compared to 2023 - with an increase from 113 kilgrams to 215 kilograms - noting the use is “largely recreational.”

Sophie Trigger is Newstalk ZB’s Senior Political Reporter. She joined the New Zealand Herald in 2020, before moving to Newstalk ZB and the Press Gallery in 2022.