A Family Court judge is alarmed at drug P’s impact on families. Reference Sunday Star Times 24th February 2008.

Couples are increasingly citing use of the drug methamphetamine or “P” as a reason for seeking protection orders, divorce and sole custody of children.

Family Court judges have told the Sunday Star-Times that allegations of P use in such cases were prevalent and rising.

Two judges said that a quarter of current applications for protection orders under the Domestic Violence Act involved the perpetrator of violence using P.

Problem areas included New Plymouth, Wanganui, West Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Palmerston North and Wellington.

Principal Family Court judge Peter Boshier said the trend was a “huge concern”. “[This] is particularly ominous because it’s such a hard drug to conquer in terms of rehabilitation… Where meth is involved it produces such volatility that [judges] don’t want to put children at risk, whereas some other forms of drugs and alcohol don’t necessarily have the same alarming consequences.”

Out of 66,500 cases dealt with by the 45 Family Court judges last year, 4351 involved protection orders and 21,391 were applications for care of children.

Several family lawyers said they had noticed an increase in the number of P-related family break-ups over the past five years, including affluent families who seemed to “have it all”. In most cases, both parents had tried P socially but one had become addicted.

In one case, an Auckland couple in their early 30s started using P recreationally at a cost of $500-$800 a week. He gave up but she got addicted, which caused arguments and led to their break-up. She took their four-year-old child and lived transiently with friends, and started a relationship with a P dealer, which became violent. The woman’s neighbours and family became concerned at her dishevelled appearance and and reported her to Child, Youth and Family.

In another case, an Auckland woman in her late 20s, who was separated and shared custody of her two-year-old, developed a P habit. Her ex-husband found out and sought sole custody. At the same time, staff at the child’s crèche notified CYF over the woman’s appearance. She failed a drug test and lost custody of her child.

Boshier said judges usually granted protection where P use was alleged or proven in many cases grandparents stepped in to care for children.

“I do not want to suggest there’s anything wrong with grandparents bringing up children, but as a society we have a norm of the parents…”

Many judges direct parents accused of having a P habit to take a hair follicle test, which detects the drug months after it is taken. ESR carries out an average of three hair tests a week for Child Youth and Family, most for custody cases.

Boshier said alcohol was still regarded as the number one drug in protection orders, and cannabis was also often present.

Auckland Single Parents Trust has been given free tickets for adults and children to this event by the Rotary Club of Newmarket.

Family entertainment par excellence, ‘Circus Quirkus’ is a truly unique show of local and international performers steeped in the traditional circus disciplines of clowning, juggling, balancing, contortion and acrobatics combined with large doses of comedy. Judging by the laughter and delighted reactions of the audiences ‘Circus Quirkus’ really lifts the spirits of all family members. All the artists are performing to the highest degree of skill, delivering incredible feats and guaranteed entertainment.

There are two shows to choose from.

Time: 2pm
Date: Saturday 24th May or Sunday 25th May
Venue: ASB Stadium, Kohimarama Rd, Auckland

We have limited numbers of tickets so please let us know if you would like tickets and how many so we can get them out to you ASAP.

julie@singleparents.org.nz

new members welcome

This is just a bit fo useful information to save you money on dental bills if you live in Auckland. These dental bills do not include fillings but if you need a tooth pulled out or surgery then this is for you.

If you don’t have dental cover or are not wealthy you can pay just $40 at Green Lane Hospital in Auckland + $6 parking.

This is the catch.

Park your car opposite Green Lane hospital entrance (at lights) where it only costs $6 for the day instead of $3 an hour in the hospital car park. (Ellerslie Racecourse side) Get there at around 6.30 in the morning.

Wait outside the main entrance of the hospital till the doors open at 7am.

Go to the lifts on the left just past information desk. Take lift to floor 1 and turn left. You will have to wait outside the doors on first floor till they open at 7.15am.

They will only take the first 20 adults. For children you can turn up at anytime. They take preference over adults.

If you don’t have the $40 there and then you will be invoiced. Take this to WINZ or pay at a later time. You don’t not need ID nor to prove your income. Just be one of the 20 clients for the day.

If you need surgery such as wisdom teeth, you will be on put on a waiting list for a few months but you will save hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

It is called the Oral Clinic of Green Lane Hospital.

Another solution is to go to the Maori Doctors and Dental next door to the Henderson Court House. (I will come back with the name of organisation).

This service is free. It will not matter if are of European descent as they will not turn you away.

Here in New Zealand we are seeing a growing number of young children and teenagers being prescribed Ritalin because of learning difficulties and behavioural problems.

Ritalin is used for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as well as for similar disorders. These orders have extremes on one side to extremes on the other side. Many ordinary behaved children fit within these extremes. It can be difficult for doctors to decide who has these disorders and who doesn’t as fightforkids shows.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A list of behaviours that psychiatrists declare are problems, such as: has too little attention, is too active, fidgets, squirms, and, therefore, is not “normal.”

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If you have ever dealt to warts you will know it takes a while to get rid of. If you freeze them you have to go back many times to receive treatment and it costs at least $10 per visit. If you buy the latest wart liquid, you pay around $40 per bottle and that may not even work.

Simply, sand the wart (with fine sandpaper) and cover the wart with duct tape, which costs around $8 a roll. You will be amazed. In only a day or 2 you will see the wart shrink and it will disappear around 28 days.

Magic. It really works. And you will still have a lot of duct tape left.

This is just useful information given to me by a specialist and can save you money in Doctor’s bills and wart treatment.

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