You really don’t want your children living in a meth contaminated house. As an adult you don’t want to be living in a meth house but for kids it’s even worse.
The Ministry of Health Guidelines for Remediation of Clandestine Methamphetamine Laboratory Sites say exposure to meth residues may cause symptoms similar to those experienced by meth users. Here are relevant extracts from Ministry of Health Guidelines:
“Exposure to even small amounts of methamphetamine can produce euphoria, increase alertness, paranoia, decreased appetite and increased physical activity. Other effects involving the central nervous system include writhing, jerky body movements, irritability, insomnia, confusion, tremors, anxiety, aggression, hyperthermia and convulsions.
“Methamphetamine exposure cases cardiovascular effects including chest pain and hypertension and sometimes can result in cardiovascular collapse and death. Additionally methamphetamine increases heart rate, blood pressure and risk of stroke and may cause irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain.”
“The psychological symptoms observed with prolonged methamphetamine abuse can resemble those of schizophrenia and are characterised by paranoia, hallucinations, repetitive behaviour patterns and delusions of parasites or insects on the skin. Methamphetamine-induced paranoia can result in homicidal or suicidal thoughts, with drug users often exhibiting violent tendencies.”
“Health impacts on infants and young children raised in areas that were formerly used as clan meth labs are of particular concern. Children are often more susceptible to hazards due to their physiologic status (rapid growth, incomplete development, and rapid metabolism requiring more air and water per body than adults) and behaviours (crawling, hand to mouth activity, gnawing on furniture, window sills and toys.)”
The problem is, most people moving into new properties have no idea whether they are meth contaminated or not because they don’t have the properties assessed.
An Auckland District Law Society (ADLS) on-line article makes two important points:
- Meth use can occur anywhere: “It cannot be said that this risk is limited to certain areas or property types, as cases have been uncovered across the board, including high value properties in affluent areas.”
- You can’t tell if a building has been used for meth. “If six months have passed since a property was last used as a lab, it is likely any smell would be indistinguishable. However, the health risks and potential for damage to property remain.”
Meth use is widespread. New Zealand has 26,400 meth users according to the latest figures available from the Government Tackling Methamphetamine Action Plan 2015. These people move around, contaminating as they go. Housing NZ says it found 28 meth-contaminated state homes in the year to June 2014, but 229 in the year to June 2015 and 279 in the second six months of 2015.
So for your own sake, but especially for the sake of your children make sure you get any property meth assessed before you buy or rent so your kids don’t end up with the symptoms of meth use.