Methamphetamine has become a real cause for concern and the jails are filling up with the number of people being jailed for possession and use of the narcotic.

It seems that was the reason why Senior Supreme Court Judge Justice Vui Clarence Nelson raised concerns about the increase in hard drug offenders noting that someone has to do something about it.

The court is exploring other options such as treatment for drug offenders to counter the growing number of people being sent to jail for indulging in the habit and filling up the prison.

The court is concerned that in most cases, it is usually the same people who are reoffending upon release.

Justice Nelson made the comments last week when a middle-aged man facing possession of hard drugs appeared before the Supreme Court.

The Senior Justice had queried the Attorney General’s Office on its position on treatment for methamphetamine users being mindful that the Salvation Army offers treatment only for those who use marijuana and alcohol.

He added the court can’t keep sending people to prison because it’s not working and the rise in meth users is not only a problem for the court but is an issue with the A.G.’s Office and the police.

While senior figures in the judiciary and law enforcement have raised the issue of meth flooding Samoa, it is sad to see the lack of political to deal with the matter that is impacting the youth and the economy. There has been an increase in gun violence as well and in most cases, guns are associated with meth.

If a political figure says that meth is not a problem in Samoa, then he or she needs to crawl out from under the rock and look at the reality. If someone says that gangs are not forming, take a walk through the streets of Apia at night and you will realise how serious some of these things are.

Race horses were eyewear called blinders or winkers, that stop them from being distracted. Right now the government is wearing blinders called the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, whereby everything else is a distraction and they cannot see it. If this is the case, then the authorities are allowing the situation to get worse.

The situation at the prison is that all meth users and dealers are being kept together, this is inherently allowing the meth network to get bigger. There is also concern that if drug users and dealers are always being sent to jail, the prison could have an overcrowding issue.

There is a need to make treatment for meth or rehab available locally. Research also supports and proves that sending people to jail without rehabilitation or treatment is pointless for drug addicts, they will re-offend.

Jail time is only a short-term solution but is also costly to the state, feeding them, providing security to keep them in jail, and a lot of manpower and building more prisons to accommodate the growing number of offenders is not a real solution.

At some point, those being sent to jail will have to be released back into the community and the government has the responsibility to support offenders when they go back home and to ensure the public are not in harm's way and this can only be done by offering treatment through counselling and rehab that every prisoner should be entitled to access.

For a small nation, the amount of meth available on the streets is unbelievable. From security officers to taxi drivers, they are selling it to tourists and locals. The complex nature of the meth operation only suggests an organised structure.

Apart from upgrading customs and border facilities, the only other way out of this situation is education and awareness. Children as young as 14-years-old are involved in this, both as users and runners. The poverty situation faced by child street vendors has also made some of them easy targets to distribute meth in Samoa.

Police can get hard on everyone, search the vendors daily, and have regular roadblocks with sniffer dogs. Has that worked anywhere in the world? Let us look at New Zealand. The police have been doing that but the operators always find other ways.

Eradicate the child vendor issue by having free education, and work on reducing poverty, and perhaps then some of these numbers will dwindle.

It is also time to break away from the tradition of not talking about certain subjects in the family circle. The realities of the use of this drug must be portrayed. Show children the hard images of meth addicts and shock their system. Awareness campaigns by authorities should not be just a few messages saying ‘be wise, don’t do drugs’ but the reality of the use should be talked about and shown.

The churches and village councils have to talk about this not just among themselves but also with the people. The situation will get worse. The number one reason why meth will continue to be in Samoa is not that it is highly addictive but it is highly lucrative. Money is the best motivator and there are people out there willing to poison others and get rich in the process. We can no longer believe that drug peddlers are small gangs but complex and well-organised criminal business entities.

The meth fire has always been thought to have been started by deportees but now the fire is out of control. A new approach is needed, an inclusive one otherwise we can be like Indonesia and Malaysia, where you get the death penalty for crimes related to narcotics.