Information from police shows that people calling the Alcohol Drug Helpline for help for meth problems are now second only to those seeking help for alcohol addiction.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/89292002/Meth-floods-into-NZ-addicts-swamping-drug-rehab-facilities Feb 19 2017

Because continued use of the drug decreases natural feelings of hunger, users can experience extreme weight loss. Negative effects can also include disturbed sleep patterns, hyperactivity, nausea, delusions of power, increased aggressiveness and irritability.

Other serious effects can include insomnia, confusion, hallucinations, anxiety and paranoia. In some cases, use can cause convulsions that lead to death.

In the long term, meth use can cause irreversible harm: increased heart rate and blood pressure; damaged blood vessels in the brain that can cause strokes or an irregular heartbeat that can, in turn, cause cardiovascular 2 collapse or death; and liver, kidney and lung damage.

Users may suffer brain damage, including memory loss and an increasing inability to grasp abstract thoughts. Those who recover are usually subject to memory gaps and extreme mood swings.

Methamphetamine is now half the price it was in 2016, according to the people determined to stamp it out.

Wellington and Porirua drug counsellor, and former addict, Andrew Hopgood said anecdotally that a gram of methamphetamine now costs $450, down from $850 a year earlier and it was easier to get than ever.

The children of methamphetamine addicts also suffer from their parent's addiction. The risk of danger to them begins even before birth. Methamphetamine use during pregnancy decreases the life-sustaining blood flow to the unborn child, along with having a direct toxic effect on the developing baby's brain. After birth, infants born to mothers who are methamphetamine addicts may show classical withdrawal signs, including uncontrollable trembling, trouble making eye contact, trouble feeding, and sleeping excessively.

These children grow up and show higher levels of aggressive behavior, have greater difficulty adjusting to different social environments, and have a higher rate of difficulties at school when compared to children whose mothers were not methamphetamine users.
https://www.drug-rehabs.org/research/meth-personal-and-social-consequences.htm

Chemical residues and waste generated in the manufacturing of methamphetamine pose a serious danger to the environment. This waste is often poured down the drain, into storm sewers, or into crudely dug pits in the ground. These chemicals can leach into the soil and groundwater and cause contamination for many years.
https://www.drug-rehabs.org/research/meth-personal-and-social-consequences.htm

And emotionally, an addicted person is just not the same any more. As a person uses drugs, emotional tone continues to go lower and lower, and this alone will drain much of the life out of a relationship. Perceptions become dull and life will not provide much true pleasure any more. She may be afraid of being rejected if she admits she’s using drugs so she keeps her secret. If her husband, boyfriend or parent starts to question her on what’s wrong, she could very well blow up in anger.

Some addicts don’t just become defensive, they become abusive. This goes for any drugs. Many people become mean, angry drunks and drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine often make users paranoid, which easily leads to anger and abuse. Any addict who feels threatened may feel compelled to fight back to protect the supply of drugs that hold him prisoner.

http://www.narconon.org/blog/drug-addiction/how-drug-abuse-affects-relationships/

The meth-exposed children were more likely to be emotionally reactive, anxious, and depressed at age 3. And they were also more likely to show aggressive behavior and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity at age 5. That was especially true in children whose mothers were heavy users. Both groups of children acted like that at age 3, but kids who hadn't been exposed to drugs outgrew the behavior as they neared school age.

Children were anxious and depressed because those children don't tend to get the attention of parents and teachers like the disruptive or impulsive children do. "These are the ones who are quiet. They may cry; they may be withdrawn." But those children risk having problems forming friendships and getting along in school because of their emotional reactivity.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2012/03/19/148916627/kids-exposed-to-meth-in-womb-can-struggle-with-behavior-problems

Other costs methamphetamine spreads to the community at large – users and non-users alike – include automobile accidents, increased criminal activity, domestic violence, emergency room and other medical costs, increased spread of infectious disease, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, and lost worker productivity. Local, state, and federal governments, and ultimately, the taxpayers usually pay these costs.
http://www.intheknowzone.com/substance-abuse-topics/methamphetamine/meth-and-the-community.html

The record confiscation of the class A drug, found in bags in a campervan in Northland, outstrips the combined total of meth seizures across the country last year.
 
Experts said the growing problem was affecting more Kiwis, meanwhile funding for organised crime fighting made it increasingly difficult for police to target the gangs at the heart of the issue.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/81051576/Methamphetamine-supply-and-use-continue-to-grow

“Everything has a scent, and methamphetamine smells a bit like cat piss. It’s the ammonia,” he says. “Pills have their own scent as well but it’s different because you don’t know what’s being used to fill them up—it could be chalk, washing powder, anything. When it started becoming really expensive, we just stopped buying pills, because they went from $50 for a good pill to $60 for a decent pill. Then $40 artificial drugs all round.”

Officials believe the street value of meth to be around $1 million per kilogram in New Zealand, but most people spoken to for this story—including dealers—put the price substantially lower, at between $300,000 and $350,000 per kilogram.

A 2009 Household Drug Survey by the Ministry of Health reported that 2.1 per cent of adults 16–64 years of age had used amphetamines in the past year, or 53,900 people. In response, National launched an action plan called Tackling Methamphetamine. The issue was deemed serious enough to warrant being run out of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, instead of Justice or Health.