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Synthetic drugs blight Maraenui babies
Ngāti Kahungunu leader Ngahiwi Tomoana says he sees too many babies born affected by alcohol and drugs – with social deprivation to blame.
Hawke's Bay is facing a crisis in the use of methamphetamine and synthetic cannabis, with the Napier suburb of Maraenui particularly hard hit.
Mr Tomoana says the area has lots of single parents, and children with one or two parents in jail.
He says with high unemployment and legitimate pathways to success closed, too many people see drug sales as a way to get an income.
"I'm the deputy chair of our regional hospital board and we see babies born addicted, babies born with fetal alcohol and drug addictions. It's rife and we have to address it as a community," Mr Tomoana says.
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