Wednesday, 28 May 2025 11:25

Drug survey

Written by  Milking It

OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is growing and making up a disproportionate share of nonnegative workplace drug test results.

The proportion of meth detections has jumped since the start of the year January: 13.7%, February: 18.2% and March: 24.9%

The frontline data tells a confronting story; meth use is more than a big-city issue. The agency says it is seeing higher proportions of meth detections in smaller regions like the Central North, The Lakes and Taranaki.

However, there is no data break down for rural towns. The agency says the issue with getting any more specific with rural data is that it becomes identifiable. Everyone knows who’s testing, who isn’t and what companies they’re using to carry it out.

So, for the farming sector, the days of finding out the level of drug use in their local patch may still be a while away.

More like this

Featured

Mark Patterson Promotes NZ Wool at India's Bharat Textile Expo

Just a matter of hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic trip to New Zealand, the political doors in India swung wide open for Associate Minister of Agriculture, Mark Patterson, who was there to help promote our high-quality coarse wool.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Irish Dilemma

OPINION: The Irish dairy sector is facing a new dilemma - maintaining year-round fresh milk supplies.

Beef Cows To The Rescue

OPINION: Could beef cows play an increasingly important role in improving profitability and resilience on hill country farms?

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter